Ulmus minor var. italica | |
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Leaf and samara drawing of var. italica | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Rosales |
Family: | Ulmaceae |
Genus: | Ulmus |
Species: | |
Variety: | U. m. var. italica
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Trinomial name | |
Ulmus minor var. italica |
Ulmus minor var. italica was first described by Augustine Henry in 1913, as a 'variety' of field elm from Italy, Spain, Portugal and Algeria. He called it Ulmus nitens var. italica, 'Mediterranean Elm'.[1][note 1] The variety was accepted by Krüssman (1984), despite the wide source-area claimed for it, as a non-clonal cultivar, U. carpinifolia var. italica Henry.[2] Bean (1988), however, considered it "a variety of rather dubious standing",[3] and it was ignored by Richens (1983), who listed instead a "small-leaved U. minor of Spain" and a "narrow-leaved U. minor of northern and central Italy", as well as "the densely hairy leaved U. minor of southern Italy",[4] the latter being Ulmus minor subsp. canescens, formerly Melville's Ulmus canescens.
Description
[edit]Henry described var. italica as a smooth-leaved field elm growing to 80 feet, distinguished by its 14 to 18 pairs of leaf-veins, an unusually high number for this species. Several Italian field elm authorities offering diagnostic leaf-photographs of local olmo campestre show leaves with 14 to 18 vein-pairs.[5][6][7][8][9] Henry's description also mentions leathery leaves, conspicuous axil-tufts, and a quarter-inch (about 1 cm) petiole.
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Branching of var. italica
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Bole of var. italica
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Bark of var. italica
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Foliage of var. italica, with leaves matching Henry's 1913 description and drawing
Pests and diseases
[edit]Italian field elm is susceptible to Dutch elm disease and Elm leaf beetle Xanthogalerucella luteola Müll.[11]
Cultivation
[edit]
" ... The most exquisite districts, from an Anglo-Saxon point of appreciation, where magnificent elms, fresh green meadows, luxuriant cattle, running brooks, and a variety of wild flowers, unite to give the landscape a parklike aspect, are the valley of the Arrone near Boccea and the valley of the Rivus Albanus near Decimo." |
– From Rodolfo Lanciani , Wanderings in the Roman Campagna (1909), p. 68.[12] |
Field elm has been described as "a well adapted and appreciated species" in Italy.[11] Henry gave examples of cultivation of var. italica both there and in the wider source-area claimed for it. Of plantings outside the source-area, he mentioned a specimen sent to Kew Gardens, while Krüssman (1984) included a photograph of var. italica Henry planted in Gisselfeld Park, Denmark.[2] There was a tree so labelled in Maastricht in the mid-20th century.[13] The variety was propagated and marketed by the Hillier & Sons nursery, Winchester, Hampshire, in the mid-20th century.[14][15][16] E. E. Kemp, curator of Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, noted (1979) that in the Netherlands, "where much nursery stock of smooth-leaved elm is raised, about 75% of the seed is obtained from Italian suppliers".[17]
Notable trees
[edit]Henry described a number of notable old specimens "of this variety", including one at the Villa Paveri-Fontana, Collecchio, Parma, with a bole 20 feet in girth. A centuries-old field elm, 5.5 metres in girth and possibly an example of Henry's var. italica, survives (2009) in the town of Mergozzo in Piedmont.
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Villa Paveri-Fontana, Collecchio, in Henry's day
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L'Olmo di Mergozzo, Piedmont, present in 1600
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Same, 2019
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Trunk detail of same
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L'olmo di Pincara information board
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L'olmo di Pincara, Veneto, c.200 years old, bole circumference 5 m
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L'olmo di Pincara, bole
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L'olmo di Pincara, bark
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L'olmo di Pincara, September foliage
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Elwes, Henry John; Henry, Augustine (1913). The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland. Vol. 7. pp. 1892–1893.
- ^ a b Krüssman, Gerd, Manual of Cultivated Broad-Leaved Trees & Shrubs (1984 vol. 3), pl.144
- ^ Bean, W. J., Trees and shrubs hardy in Great Britain (1988) beanstreesandshrubs.org
- ^ Richens, R. H., Elm (Cambridge 1983), p.18
- ^ floraitaliae.actaplantarum.org
- ^ meditflora.com
- ^ bonsaiaq.altervista.org
- ^ luirig.altervista.org
- ^ ifepadova.it
- ^ var. italica, 130 Via Ronchi, Veneto, Italy - Google Maps, September 2011, access date: 18 August, 2022
- ^ a b Mittempergher, L., 'Dutch elm disease in Italy', in Research on Dutch Elm Disease in Europe, ed. D. A. Burdekin (London, 1983), p.105-6
- ^ Elms by Rivus Albanus near Decimo, now the Regional Park of Decima-Malafede; photo by A. Vochieri, in Lanciani, Rodolfo, Wanderings in the Roman Campagna (1909), p. 71
- ^ "Herbarium specimen - WAG.1853142". Botany catalogues. Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Sheet labelled U. nitens var. italica Henry, Maastricht, 1932
- ^ Trees and Shrubs Catalogue, Hillier & Sons, 1958–1959
- ^ Hillier & Sons (1977). Catalogue of Trees & Shrubs. Hillier, Ampfield, UK.
- ^ Hillier & Sons Sales inventory 1962 to 1977 (unpublished).
- ^ Kemp, Eddie (1979). "The Plantsman's Elm". In Clouston, Brian; Stansfield, Kathy (eds.). After the Elm. London: William Heinemann Ltd. p. 35. ISBN 9780434139002.