| Greuneveld Holland Elm - Ulmus x hollandica 'Greuneveld' [1] |
|  Greuneveld Holland Elm foliage typical of the Morton elm collection. |
Once a very popular and long-lived (300+ years) shade and street tree in North America, Elms suffered a dramatic decline in the 1950's with the infestation of Dutch elm disease, a fungus spread by a bark beetle. The wood of the Elm is very hard and was a valuable timber tree used for lumber, furniture and veneer. The Indians once made canoes out of American Elm trunks, and early settlers would steam the wood so it could be bent to make barrels and wheel hoops. It was also used for the rockers on rocking chairs. |
Morton Arboretum accession 76-72*1
These three outstanding American Elms display the classic vase-shape of the species. The Morton Arboretum is one of the largest living Ulmus collections in the world (more than 30 species, in addition to numerous infraspecific taxa, hybrids, and cultivars) and has the source of numerous elm cultivars. I remember when the elms in Des Plaines, Illinois all died during the 1950's. Our walk to school along Thacker Street was shaded by enormous elms all the way from Wolf Road to 2nd Avenue, then the next year they were all gone. So sad. Similar scenarios are now playing themselves out amongst the lodgepole pine and ash trees of North America. |
Greuneveld Holland Elm Bark and Foliage
Leaf: alternate, simple, ovate to oblong, 3 to 5 inches long, 1 to 3 inches wide, margin coarsely and sharply doubly serrate, base conspicuously inequilateral, upper surface green and glabrous or slightly scabrous, paler and downy beneath. Flower: Monoecious; small, in drooping clusters of 3 to 5, appear in early spring before leaf buds open. |
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