Ulmus glabra 'Camperdownii'

Ulmus glabra 'Camperdownii'
Camperdown Elm, Prospect Park (Brooklyn)
SpeciesUlmus glabra
Cultivar'Camperdownii'
OriginScotland
The original Camperdown Elm, replanted near the location of its discovery c.1840 in Camperdown Park, Dundee; image taken in 1989

The Wych Elm cultivar Ulmus glabra 'Camperdownii', commonly known as the Camperdown Elm, was discovered about 1835–1840 (often mis-stated as '1640') as a young contorted elm (a sport) growing in the forest at Camperdown House, in Dundee, Scotland, by the Earl of Camperdown's head forester, David Taylor. The young tree was lifted and replanted within the gardens of Camperdown House where it remains to this day. The original tree, which grows on its own roots, is less than 3 m tall, with a weeping habit and contorted branch structure. The earl's gardener is said to have produced the first of what are commonly recognised as Camperdown elms by grafting a cutting to the trunk of a wych elm (U. glabra).

Henry and Bean record that in early days both 'Camperdownii' and a reportedly similar-looking cultivar called 'Serpentina' were marketed as U. montana pendula nova.[1][2] Koch had listed an U. serpentina in 1872,[3] and an U. montana serpentina was marketed in the late 19th century and early 20th by the Späth nursery in Berlin,[4] and by the Ulrich nursery in Warsaw.[5] In Späth catalogues between 1902 and 1920, 'Serpentina' appears while 'Camperdownii' is absent; by 1930 'Camperdownii' appears but 'Serpentina' is absent. This suggests that 'Serpentina' may have been a continental name for 'Camperdownii', and that Späth dropped the name 'Serpentina' c.1930 in favour of 'Camperdownii'. Elwes and Henry's failure to mention the serpentining branches of 'Camperdownii' may have contributed to the impression of two different trees. In this omission they were followed by Bean (1925; corrected 1981),[2] Green (1964), Hillier (1972– 2002),[6] Krüssmann (1976),[7] and White (2003),[8] the first four of whom, like Elwes and Henry, list 'Serpentina' as a cultivar distinct from 'Camperdownii'.

Although usually classed as a cultivar of wych elm,[9] the tree was considered a nothomorph of Ulmus × hollandica 'Vegeta' by Green (1964).[10]

The tree is sometimes confused with the 'Horizontalis' (Weeping Wych Elm) owing to both being given the epithet 'Pendula'.[10]

  1. ^ Elwes, Henry John; Henry, Augustine (1913). The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland. Vol. 7. p. 1884.
  2. ^ a b Bean, W. J. (1981). Trees and shrubs hardy in Great Britain, 7th edition. Murray, England, p.646
  3. ^ Koch, Karl (1872). Dendrologie; Bäume, Sträucher und Halbsträucher, welche in Mittel- und Nord- Europa im Freien kultivirt werden. Vol. 2. p. 417.
  4. ^ Katalog (PDF). Vol. 108. Berlin, Germany: L. Späth Baumschulenweg. 1902–1903. pp. 132–133.
  5. ^ Ulrich, C. (1894), Katalog Drzew i Krezewow, C. Ulrich, Rok 1893-94, Warszawa
  6. ^ The Hillier manual of trees & shrubs. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. 2002. ISBN 978-0-7153-1073-1.
  7. ^ Krüssman, Gerd, Manual of Cultivated Broad-Leaved Trees & Shrubs (1976, trans 1984 vol. 3)
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference MoreWhite2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Coleman, Max (2009). Wych Elm. Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh. ISBN 978-1-906129-21-7.
  10. ^ a b Green, Peter Shaw (1964). "Registration of cultivar names in Ulmus". Arnoldia. 24 (6–8). Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University: 41–80. Retrieved 16 February 2017.