Ulmus × hollandica 'Daveyi'

Ulmus × hollandica 'Daveyi'
Wind-pruned Davey Elm, Trenance Farm, Cornwall, UK
Hybrid parentageU. glabra × U. minor
Cultivar'Daveyi'
OriginEngland

The Davey Elm, Ulmus × hollandica 'Daveyi', is an English hybrid cultivar of unknown specific origin, generally restricted to the valleys of Cornwall. Its apparent south-west England provenance, along with its foliage and habit, suggest that it may be a hybrid of Wych Elm and Cornish Elm.[1][2]

Description

The wide-spreading, irregular branches support pendulous branchlets. The leaves are comparatively small, rarely exceeding 6 cm in length by 5 cm wide, with a glabrous upper surface.[3][4][5][6] Photographs often show this tree in its windswept coastal form; inland its shape resembles more closely its putative Wych Elm parent, though with a denser crown.[1]

Pests and diseases

The tree is susceptible to Dutch elm disease.

Cultivation

A number of mature specimens are known to survive in south-west England, notably around Gulval, Newquay, the Roseland and St Kew in Cornwall.[1][7] The tree is not known to have been introduced to North America or Australasia, and is not in commerce in the UK.

Notable trees

The UK TROBI Champion grows in the grounds of Holne Park House on the southern edge of Dartmoor. Discovered in 2017, it measured 30 m tall by 172 cm d.b.h. Another large tree grows in woodland behind Lancaster Avenue at Goodrington; when last measured in 2004 it was 22 m high by 100 cm d.b.h.[8]

  • 'Daveyi', Holne Park under Dartmoor (2017)
    'Daveyi', Holne Park under Dartmoor (2017)

Synonymy

  • Ulmus major var. daveyi Henry[5]

Etymology

The Davey Elm was named by Augustine Henry for Frederick Hamilton Davey (1868-1915), Cornish botanist and author of the Flora of Cornwall, first published in 1909 and reprinted in 1978.[5]

Accessions

Europe

References

  1. ^ a b c "Elm Trees - Cornwall Council". Cornwall Council.
  2. ^ Archie Miles, Hidden Trees of Britain, Ebury Press, 2007, p.17
  3. ^ Davey, Frederick Hamilton (1909). Flora of Cornwall. p. 401.
  4. ^ Thurston, Edgar (1922). Supplement to the Flora of Cornwall. pp. xiv, 124.
  5. ^ a b c Elwes, Henry John; Henry, Augustine (1913). The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland. Vol. 7. p. 1884.
  6. ^ "Herbarium specimen - L.1587060". Botany catalogues. Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Ulmus major var. daveyi Henry (Kew, 1938); "Herbarium specimen - L.4209945". Botany catalogues. Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Sheet labelled U. glabra x U. stricta, Wembury Valley, Devon, 1939 (Melville); "Herbarium specimen - L.4209950". Botany catalogues. Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Sheet labelled U. glabra x U. stricta, Wembury, Devon, 1939 (Melville)
  7. ^ Tree Register Of the British Isles.
  8. ^ Johnson, O. (2011). Champion Trees of Britain & Ireland, 169. Kew Publishing, Kew, London. ISBN 9781842464526.
  9. ^ "List of plants in the {elm} collection". Brighton & Hove City Council. Retrieved 23 September 2016.