Complimentary 
NEW SERIES VOL. IV 
NO. 10 
ARNOLD ARBORETUM 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 
BULLETIN 
OF 
POPULAR INFORMATION 
JAMAICA PLAIN, MASS. JUNE 27. 1918 
The English Elm. In the discussions of the English Elm which oc- 
casionally appear in the Boston papers surprise is expressed that dif- 
ferent individuals of this tree differ in general appearance and in the 
size of the leaves, showing perhaps that it is not generally known 
that there are four distinct species of Elm-trees now growing natur- 
ally in England. This confusion in regard to these trees is of long 
standing, for Linnaeus one hundred and sixty-five years ago believed 
that all the Elm-trees of Europe were of one kind to which he gave 
the name of Ulmus campestris, a name which must be abandoned as 
the four British trees and an Elm-tree of northern and eastern Europe 
are included in his description. 
Ulmus procera. This is the name now adopted for the tree which is 
generally known as English Elm in Boston where it has proved one of 
the best foreign trees ever planted in Massachusetts. It has been 
growing here for more than a century, and nearly one hundred years 
ago Major Paddock had a nursery at Milton for the propagation and 
sale of this tree. Probably no tree, native or foreign, which has been 
planted in the neighborhood of Boston has grown to such a large size. 
The Paddock Elms, which stood on Tremont Street in front of the 
Granary Burying Ground, were of this species, as were the great Elms 
on the Tremont Street Mall of the Common which were killed by the 
Subway. The Elm-trees on each side of the Shaw Monument opposite 
the State House are of this species, and there are still large speci- 
mens in the suburbs of the city. This is the common Elm-tree of 
southern England where it grows usually in hedge-rows, although it 
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