Ulmus uyematsui Hayata, commonly known as the Alishan elm, is endemic to forests at elevations of 800–2,500 metres (2,600–8,200 ft) in Alishan, Chiayi County[2], central Taiwan,[1] where it is considered one of the minor tree species.[2][3] The tree was first named and described by the Japanese botanist Bunzō Hayata in 1913,[4] in the aftermath of the First Sino-Japanese War, when the Republic of Formosa was ceded to Japan.
Description
The tree grows to a height of 25 m with a d.b.h. to 80 cm. The bark is grey, longitudinally fissured, and exfoliates in irregular flakes. The branchlets are brown, glabrous, though pubescent when young, and devoid of corky wings. The largely glabrous leaves are elliptic to oblong-elliptic 5–11 cm long × 3–4.5 cm wide[5] (Hui-lin Li in Flora of Taiwan gives 6–15 cm long by 3–5 cm wide[6]), typically caudate at the apex; the margins are doubly serrate.[7] The leaves are oblique at the base,[6][5] have short (2–6 mm) petioles,[1][7] and are flushed dark-red (anthocyanin pigmentation) on emergence. The perfect wind-pollinated apetalous flowers appear on second-year shoots in February, the obovate to orbicularsamarae, 10–15 × 8–10 mm, on half-centimetre pedicels,[8][9] in March.[1]
Hayata considered the tree similar to Ulmus castaneifolia, differing only in the much thinner leaves, and absence of pubescence on the axils of the primary lateral veins.[4] This comparison was not repeated in later descriptions.[6][5]
Ulmus uyematsui leaf (left) and Japanese elm leaf (right)
Pests and diseases
No information available.
Cultivation
U. uyematsui is rare in cultivation beyond Taiwan; it was introduced to commerce in the Netherlands in 2011. U. uyematsui was selected as one of eight tree species considered hardy enough to survive in the ecological reclamation of the Wujiazi iron mine 270 kilometres (170 mi) north-east of Beijing in Liaoning Province, China, where winter temperatures fall as low as −20 °C (−4 °F).[10]
Etymology
The species is named for K. Uyematsu, who collected the plant in 1913.[4]
^ abcFu, L., Xin, Y. & Whittemore, A. (2002). Ulmaceae, in Wu, Z. & Raven, P. (eds) Flora of China, Vol. 5 (Ulmaceae through Basellaceae). Science Press, Beijing, and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, USA. ISBN1930723407[1]
^Hyun, S. K. (1969). White pines of Asia: Pinus koraiensis and Pinus armandii. Biology of rust resistance in forest trees. Proceedings of a NATO-IUFRO Advanced Study Institute, Aug. 17–24, 1969. University of Idaho, USA. Misc. publication 1221, p. 141. USDA, Feb. 1972.
^Fruit photograph with scale, U. uyematsui, Taiwan, kplant.biodiv.tw
^Li, S, Li, S-x, Liu, J, Wu, Y. (2009). Selection of vegetation species for Wujiazi iron mine ecological recovery. Journal of Hebei University of Engineering (Natural Science Edition), 2009-03. University of Hebei, China.
^Tree formerly labelled U. davidiana, Chinese Hillside, RBGE; determined as U. uyematsui by RBGE in 2024. New determination mentioned in Seddon & Shreeve, 'Great British Elms', Kew, 2024
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