Ulmus minor 'Purpurascens'

The Field Elm cultivar Ulmus minor 'Purpurascens' was listed by Lavallée[1] in Arboretum Segrezianum (1877)[2] as U. campestris var. purpurascens (purpurea), but without description, and later by Schneider in Illustriertes Handbuch der Laubholzkunde (1904).[3][note 1] Krüssmann[4] in Handbuch der Laubgehölze (1962) identified it as a cultivar.[5]

Ulmus minor 'Purpurascens'
'Purpurascens' foliage, Lewes, UK, 2007
Species	Ulmus minor
Cultivar	'Purpurascens'
Origin	Europe

Schneider, Henry,[6] and Green[7] believed the cultivar 'Myrtifolia Purpurea', which was also first listed in 1877, a synonym of U minor 'Purpurascens'.

Description

The tree has small leaves approximately 25 mm long, rough above, downy beneath, tinged with purple when young, but turning dark green later. The twigs are downy. Green noted that the tree usually remains small.[6][7]

Pests and diseases

See under Ulmus minor.

Cultivation

A grafted tree at Kew Gardens labelled U. campestris var. purpurascens, planted in 1885, was 20 ft tall by 1912.[6] (For specimens supplied by the Späth nursery as U. campestris myrtifolia purpurea, see 'Myrtifolia Purpurea'.)

Notable trees

Three trees survive in Hove, one of them the UK champion (see 'Accessions'). Until 2018 one was misidentified as the large-leaved purple elm U. × hollandica 'Purpurascens'.[8]

Synonymy

• Ulmus myrtifolia purpurea (?): Louis de Smet , (Ghent, Belgium), Catalogue 10, p. 59, 1877.

Accessions

Europe

• Brighton & Hove City Council, UK, NCCPG Elm Collection.[9] Cottesmore St. Mary School, Hove (1 tree, National Champion, 18 m high, 51 cm d.b.h. in 1993[8]); Brighton & Hove Prep School, Radinden Manor Rd, Hove (1 tree);[10] Davigdor Road, Hove (1 tree).[11]

Notes

1. Henry (1913) gives Laubholzkunde 1894.

References

1. kiki.huh.harvard.edu
2. Arboretum Segrezianum 236, 1877
3. Illustriertes Handbuch der Laubholzkunde, 1:220, 1904
4. kiki.huh.harvard.edu
5. Krüssmann, Handbuch der Laubgehölze, 2: 540, 1962
6. Elwes, Henry John; Henry, Augustine (1913). The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland. 7. p. 1905.
7. Green, Peter Shaw (1964). "Registration of cultivar names in Ulmus". Arnoldia. Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University. 24 (6–8): 41–80. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
8. Johnson, O. (2011). Champion Trees of Britain & Ireland, p. 168. Kew Publishing, Kew, London. ISBN 9781842464526
9. "List of plants in the {elm} collection". Brighton & Hove City Council. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
10. "Ulmus minor 'Purpurascens' / Ulmus 'Myrtifolia Purpurea', Brighton & Hove Prep School, Hove". Google Maps. May 2014. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
11. "Ulmus minor 'Purpurascens' / Ulmus 'Myrtifolia Purpurea', 6 Davigdor Road, Hove". Google Maps. April 2017. Retrieved 2018-06-02.

External links

• "Herbarium specimen - E00824724". Herbarium Catalogue. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Sheet described as U. campestris L. purpurea