Ulmus chenmoui

Taxobox
status = EN | status_system = IUCN2.3
name = "Ulmus chenmoui"

---

image_caption = Chenmou Elm at Morton Arboretum
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Rosales
familia = Ulmaceae
genus = "Ulmus"
species = "U. chenmoui"
binomial = "Ulmus chenmoui"
binomial_authority = W.C.Cheng

"Ulmus chenmoui" W. C. Cheng, commonly known as the Chenmou, or Langya Mountain, Elm, is a small deciduous tree from the provinces of Anhui and Jiangsu in eastern China, where it is found at elevations below 200 m on the Langya Shan and Baohua Shan mountains Fu, L. & Jin J. (eds). (1992). "China Red Data Book. Rare and endangered plants. Vol. 1". Science Press, Beijing. ] Fu, 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. [http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/PDF/PDF05/Ulmus.pdf] ] .

Description

Growing to a maximum height of 20 m, its slender trunk rarely exceeds 0.5 m d.b.h.; the bark exfoliates in irregular flakes. Its wing-less twigs bear comparatively large obovate to oblong leaves up to 18 cm in length [http://www.asianflora.com/Ulmaceae/Ulmus-chienmoui.htm] . The wind-pollinated petal-less flowers are produced on second-year shoots in March; the samarae are obovate < 25 mm long by 17 mm wide and ripen in April.

Pests and diseases

"U. chenmoui" has a low susceptibility to Dutch elm disease and is eschewed by the Elm Leaf Beetle "Xanthogaleruca luteola" [http://www.sunshinenursery.com/survey.htm] .

Cultivation

The tree is rare in cultivation in the West, but was evaluated at the Morton Arboretum in North America, and in Italy Mittempergher, L. & Santini, A. (2004) The history of elm breeding. "Investigacion agraria: Sistemas y recursos forestales" 13(1): 161-177 (2004)] . It also featured in elm trials conducted by the Institut Nationale de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) on gravelly soils in the Bois de Vincennes, Paris, but most specimens were killed by drought. The tree is not currently known to be available from any nurseries beyond the USA.

Cultivars & hybrid cultivars

There are no known cultivars of this taxon. "U. chenmoui" has been hybridized with the Dutch clone 405 ("U. glabra" × "U. minor") by the Istituto per la Protezione delle Piante (IPP), Florence, to create clone FL 509, reputedly a fast-growing and attractive tree. IPP has also hybridized "U. chenmoui" with the early Dutch hybrid cultivar Groeneveld, identifying the new cultivar as FL 522. Neither of these new cultivars will be commercially released until full field trials in Italy and the UK have confirmed their suitability.

Accessions

North America

*Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, Illinois. Planted in West Collections Area.
*Denver Botanic Gardens, no details available.
*Morton Arboretum, acc. nos. 47-95, 51-96, 105-98

Europe

*Grange Farm, Sutton St. James, Spalding, Lincolnshire, UK, acc. no. 508
*Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, UK, acc. no. 1994:0328, 3 specimens planted 1993 in the Crookhill Field. Measured in 2005, all were between 5 m and 7 m tall.
*Verrières le Buisson Arboretum (private), Paris, France. Details not known

Nurseries

;North America
*Sunshine Nursery [http://www.sunshinenursery.com/catalogue.htm] , Clinton, Oklahoma.

References