Ulmus × hollandica 'Klemmer'

Ulmus × hollandica 'Klemmer', or Flanders Elm, is probably one of a number of hybrids arising from the crossing of Wych Elm (Ulmus glabra) with a variety of Field Elm (Ulmus minor), making it a variety of Ulmus × hollandica. Originating in the Bruges area, it was described by Gillekens in 1891 as l'orme champêtre des Flandres in a paper which noted its local name, klemmer, and its rapid growth in an 1878–91 trial.[1] Kew,[2] Henry (1913),[3] and Krüssmann (1976)[4] listed it as an Ulmus × hollandica cultivar, though Henry noted its "similarity in some respects" to field elm Ulmus minor, while Green went as far as to regard it as "possibly U. carpinifolia" (:minor).[5]

Ulmus × hollandica 'Klemmer'
'Klemmer' foliage, Kew, before 1976
Hybrid parentageU. glabra × U. minor
Cultivar'Klemmer'
OriginBelgium

Etymology

The name 'Klemmer' derives from the Flemish for 'climber', a reference to the tree's rapid growth and lofty height.[6] Klemmeri, used by the Späth nursery among others, is a misnomer, incorrectly implying a proper noun Klemmer.

Not to be confused with 'Klehmii', a cultivar of Ulmus americana named for Charles Klehm, an Illinois nurseryman.

Description

'Klemmer' is a tall, fast growing tree, with a straight cylindrical stem and ascending branches, initially forming a narrow, conical or pyramidal head which later broadens, and producing numerous root-suckers and some epicormic shoots.[7] The bark, smooth in young trees, is later fissured. The leaves are ovate, up to 7.5 cm (3 in) long (Krüssmann says up to 10 cm) and up to 5.0 cm (2 in) broad, shortly acuminate at the apex, the upper surface dark green, scabrous and glabrescent, the margins slightly crispate.[8][2] The seed is situated close to the notch of the samara. The timber is reddish in hue, strong but liable to warping. Feneau noted (1902) that young trees were susceptible to frost damage.[9]

Pests and diseases

'Klemmer' has no significant resistance to Dutch elm disease.

Cultivation

Common in western Flanders by the 1880s, before the first Dutch elm disease epidemic, 'Klemmer' was widely supplied and planted in avenues across Belgium and northern France, where it was much esteemed for its timber and rapid growth. Nanot (1885) and Aigret (1905) reported it as planted in the environs of Paris.[10][11] The Späth nursery of Berlin supplied an U. campestris Clemmeri to the Dominion Arboretum, Ottawa, Canada, in 1893;[12] by his 1903 catalogue Späth had renamed the cultivar U. Klemmeri, suggesting doubts about its botanical status.[13] The tree was introduced to the USA c.1871, appearing in the catalogues of the Mount Hope Nursery (also known as Ellwanger and Barry) of Rochester, New York.[14][15]

Notable trees
Noticeboard in Ladywell Fields, Lewisham, erroneously naming the Lewisham Elm (U. laevis) as 'Klemmer'.

One of two specimens obtained in 1908 from the Barbier Nursery, France, by the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew survives at Wakehurst Place,[6] maintained as a hedging plant, too low to attract the attention of Scolytus beetles.[16] In the US, three 'Klemmer' elms survive (2018) at the Morton Arboretum, Illinois.[17][8]

In 1997, a large European White Elm Ulmus laevis growing in the Ladywell Fields public park in Lewisham, London,[18] was misidentified as a 'Klemmer' elm; an information board erected in front of the tree by Lewisham Council, still (2018) bears the erroneous name, and depicts another tree (one of the Morton 'Klemmer'[8]).[19]

Synonymy

Accessions

North America

Europe

References
  1. Gillekens, Léopold Guillaume, Éléments d'arboriculture forestière (1891), p.40
  2. Photograph of 'Klemmer' leaves in Kew in Gerald Wilkinson, Epitaph for the Elm, Hutchinson, London 1978 (ISBN 0099212803 / 0-09-921280-3)
  3. Elwes, Henry John; Henry, Augustine (1913). The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland. 7. p. 1873.
  4. Krüssmann, Johann Gerd, Handbuch der Laubgehölze (Vol. 3) (Paul Parey, Berlin and Hamburg, 1976); trans. Michael E. Epp, Manual of Cultivated Broad-Leaved Trees and Shrubs (Vol. 3) (Batsford, Timber Press, Beaverton, Oregon, 1984-6), p.410
  5. Green, Peter Shaw (1964). "Registration of cultivar names in Ulmus". Arnoldia. Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University. 24 (6–8): 41–80. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  6. Elwes, Henry John; Henry, Augustine (1913). The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland. 7. pp. footnote 1870, 1872.
  7. Photo of Morton Arboretum 'Klemmer' (centre of picture)
  8. cirrusimage.com Ulmus 'Klemmer' at Morton Arboretum
  9. Feneau (1902). "Notes sur les diverses sortes d'ormes plantés dans l'arrondissement d'Ypres". Bulletin de la Société centrale forestière de Belgique. 6: 162–165. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  10. Nanot, Jules (1885). "Orme". Guide de l'ingénieur pour l'établissement et l'entretien des plantations d'alignement sur les voies publiques. Paris: Librairie centrale d'agriculture et de jardinage. pp. 32–38. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  11. "Famille XV – Ulmacées". Annales des travaux publics de Belgique. 62: 1226. 1905.
  12. Saunders, William; Macoun, William Tyrrell (1899). Catalogue of the trees and shrubs in the arboretum and botanic gardens at the central experimental farm (2 ed.). pp. 74–75.
  13. Katalog (PDF). 108. Berlin, Germany: L. Späth Baumschulenweg. 1902–1903. pp. 132–133.
  14. 'Descriptive Catalogue of Ornamental Trees & Shrubs', no.2, Mount Hope Nursery, Rochester, 1871; p.6
  15. "Holland Elm, Dutch Elm ( Ulmus hollandica )". Saylor Plants.
  16. Webber, J. F. (2000). 'Insect Vector Behavior & The Evolution of Dutch Elm Disease'. in: Dunn, C. P. (ed.) The Elms - Breeding, Conservation & Disease Management. Springer Nature. ISBN 978-1-4615-4507-1
  17. Photographs of Ulmus × hollandica 'Klemmer', Morton Arboretum, 'Ulmus Series', acorn.mortonarb.org
  18. Johnson, O. (2011). Champion Trees of Britain & Ireland, Kew Publishing, Kew, London. ISBN 9781842464526.
  19. The Lewisham Elm: Article on www.treesforcities.org, www.waymarking.com , edithsstreets.blogspot
  20. "'Klemmer' at Morton Arboretum". Google Maps. May 2011. Retrieved 2017-06-12.
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