Lightf. FI. Scot. v. i. p. 1094, variety. — U. scabra, Hunt. Evel. Silva, p. 1 19, note. — 
Ulmus folio latissimo scabro, Goodyer in Johnson's Gerarde, p. 1481. — Ray’s 
Syn. p. 469. 
Localities. — In woods and hedges ; frequent. 
Tree. — Flowers in March and April. 
A large tree, growing to the height of from 50 to 100 feet, with 
long, widely spreading, somewhat drooping branches. Bark even, 
not corky ; downy in a young state. Leaves large, 3 or 4 inches 
long, and 2 or 3 broad, doubly and coarsely serrated, somewhat 
inversely egg-shaped, with a long copiously serrated point ; rough 
on the upper surface, with minute, callous, bristly tubercles ; the 
under surface downy and paler, with straight, parallel, transverse 
ribs, which are copiously hairy at their origins and subdivisions. 
Flowers rather larger and paler, and in looser tufts than most of the 
species, each in 5, 6, or 7, oblong, pointed segments, with as many 
broad, rather heart-shaped, dark-purple anthers. Capsule ( samara) 
broadly elliptical, almost orbicular, with a shallow notch at the end, 
not extending half way to the seed. 
The Wych Elm is a native of many other parts of Europe as well as of Britain ; 
and, when full grown, is an elegant and noble tree. Its wood is tough, and va- 
luable for many purposes. Mr. Ashworth (in Gard. Mag. v. xii. p. 409.) states 
it to be nearly equal in value to that of the Ash. “ It is good,” he says, “ for 
the naves, poles, and shafts of gigs and other carriages ; and from its not splinter- 
ing, as the Oak and Ash, in time of battle, for the swingle-trees of great-gun 
carriages. It is also used for dyers’ and printers’ rollers, the wood by constant 
use wearing smooth. Cartwrights employ it for shafts, naves, beds, rails, and 
standards for wheelbarrows, and the handles of spades, forks, and other agricul- 
tural implements.” Gerarde says, that “ when long bows were in use, there 
were very many made of the wood of this tree.” The bark from the young 
boughs is stripped off in long ribands, and often used, especially in Wales, for 
securing thatch, and for various bindings and tyings, to which purpose its flexible 
and tough nature renders it well adapted. Lightfoot says, the Highlanders 
make good ropes of it. In some parts of the country this tree is considered a 
preservative against witches; and Mr. Loudon informs us, in his valuable work 
above referred to, that in some of the midland counties, even to the present day, 
a little cavity is made in the churn, to receive a small portion of witch-hazel, 
without which the dairymaids imagine that they would not be able to get the 
butter to come. This species of Elm often attains a very large size. Two magni- 
ficent specimens of it may be seen in the Grove at Magdalen College, Oxford ; 
the largest of these is more than 100 feet high, its trunk, 2 feet above the ground, 
measures 28 feet in girt, and its branches extend over a space of ground 120 feet 
in diameter. Another very fine tree of this kind is growing at F y field , about six 
miles from Oxford. — Septoria Ulmi, Hook. Brit. FI. v. ii. pt. n. p. 356, is not 
uncommon on the living leaves of this species near Oxford. 
Ten varieties of the W ych Elm are described by Mr. Loudon, in his very ex- 
cellent work, the Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum, and four of them 
figured. Some of these are worth cultivating in a useful, and others in an orna- 
mental point of view. See pp. 1398 & 1399; and Plates 187 a., 188, and 188 a. 
The Natural Order Ulmace.e, of which the present genus is the 
only British example, consists of apetalous dicotyledonous trees or 
shrubs, with rough, alternate, simple, deciduous leaves, and stipulce. 
The flowers are perfect or polygamous. The calyx is inferior, bell- 
shaped, and divided. The stamens are definite. The ovary is su- 
perior, and 2-celled ; with solitary, pendulous ovules ; and 2 dis- 
tinct stigmas. Th e fruit is 1- or 2-celled, indehiscent, membranous 
or drupaceous ; and the seed solitary, and pendulous, with very 
little or no albumen. 
