354 
PENTANDRIA. DIGYNIA. Ulmus. 
Var. 2. Small. Differs from the preceding only in the smallness of all its 
parts. Ray. (.Leaves doubly and sharply serrated, pointed, rough. 
(beneath the bark; according to Mr. Macleay, in Ed. Phil. Journ. 1824, at this time devas¬ 
tating the numerous fine Elms in St. James’s and Hyde Parks ; where, in consequence, the 
new leaves appear but to wither, and the tree perishes,) assists in its decortication ; Vanes¬ 
sa polychloros, Orchestes ferrugineus , Livia [Aphis) Ulmi , (best extirpated by the voracious 
Plant-louse Lion,) L. ( Coccus ) Ulmi, Tortrix cerusana, and Lucanus inermis are nourished 
by it. The pai-tially yellow and dead appearance of the leaves is often occasioned by the 
leaping Curculio , an insect which of the leaf forms a kind of bag or small bladder, separating 
the two laminae or outward pellicules, whilst the parenchyma that lies between them has been 
consumed by small larvae that have made themselves that dwelling. After their transfor¬ 
mation they come forth and give being to a Curculio that is brown, small, and difficult to 
catch, by reason of the nimbleness with which it leaps.— Papiliopolychloros, and C. album; 
Phalcena lubricipeda, Pavonia , betularia, and vellica ; Cimex Ulmi and striatus ; Cicada 
Ulmi. The latter generally curl the leaves, so as to make them a secure shelter against the 
weather. Linn. Silk worms will devour the tender leaves with avidity. Tr. Soc. Arts. ii. 
157. The wood of the Elm tree is pre-eminent for tenacity ; hence the keels of ships 
are now almost universally laid with Elm ; and sometimes the gun-wales, especially of 
ships of war, are made of it, it being less liable to splinter in action than even oak ; 
keels likewise made of this wood are less apt to split in taking the ground. “Treatise 
on Planting.” The Elm rivals the Oak in size, but from vyant of due attention to 
place of growth is too often of very inferior quality. In the reign of William III. 
much Elm timber was imported from Holland, but probably defective in texture, and 
U. Hollandica then became fashionable, though a very inferior sort. Cows will devour 
the leaves even in an abundant pasture, and in Worcestershire they are boiled, and thus 
afford a nutritive food for hogs. Evelyn and others imagined the Elm not to have been 
originally indigenous to Britain, but rather introduced by the Romans, as usually connected 
with vineyards, (Virg. passim), and therefore less prevalent in the northern than in the 
southern portion of our island ; and in corroboration of this idea, it has been remarked that 
no extensive woods of Elm are to be found, which indeed would be contrary to the general 
habit of the plant. Dr. Hunter entertains a different, and more probable, opinion; the 
nature of the climate being sufficient to account for the scarcity or frequency of the tree. 
Mr. Winch observes that the common Elm of the southern counties of England, (U. cam- 
pestris), is certainly not indigenous north of the Tees: even in sheltered plantations on 
the east side of the Island, it seldom attains a large size. The Wych Elm, ( U.montana ), 
and the Smooth-leaved Elm, [U. glabra), are much more hardy and abundant. Next to 
the Oak in dignity and rank amongst forest trees, we may be allowed to refer to some 
curious particulars of a vast hollow Elm, which formerly attracted general attention at 
Hampstead, (having a staircase within, seats at the top, &c.) in Park’s Topography, with a 
plate after Hollar. 
“ Hie est ante omnes alias mirabilis arbor.” 
Also to Ray, who records a Blythfield, (Staffordshire), Elm, which furnished 8660 feet of 
planks; the whole mass weighing 97 tons: and among others, equally gigantic and well 
delineated in Strutt’s “ Sylva Britannica,” (a work combining unusual accuracy with pictu¬ 
resque effect), may be named, the Elm at Chequers, Bucks, one of the most ancient, 
planted in the reign of King Stephen ; the shell of the trunk is now in circumference 31 feet: 
the Chipstead Elm, Kent, contains 268 feet of timber, measures 15 feet in girth ; said to 
have had an annual fair held beneath its shade, temp. Hen. V.: the Elm at Crawley* in Sus¬ 
sex, 70 feet high, 35 feet of girth, whose cavity might afford fit retirement for the secluded 
anchorite, were not the venerable remains, endeared to successive generations as the scene 
of childhood’s frolic, and village fetes, still frequented by the more honest rustics. Gilpin 
remarks, “ the Elm naturally grows upright ; and when it meets with a soil it loves, rises 
higher than the generality of trees ; and after it has assumed the dignity, and hoary 
roughness of age, few of its forest-brethren excel it in grandeur and beauty. The Elm is 
the first tree that salutes the early spring with its light and cheerful green,—a tint which 
contrasts agreeably with the Oak, whose early leaf has generally more of the olive cast. 
