Ulmus_szechuanica
Ulmus szechuanica
Species of tree
Ulmus szechuanica Fang, known as the Szechuan (Sichuan), or red-fruited, elm, is a small to medium deciduous Chinese tree found along the Yangtze river through the provinces of Sichuan, Jiangxi, Anhui, and Jiangsu.
| Ulmus szechuanica | |
|---|---|
| Ulmus szechuanica, Sir Harold Hillier Gardens | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Ulmaceae |
| Genus: | Ulmus |
| Species: | U. szechuanica |
| Binomial name | |
| Ulmus szechuanica Fang | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The tree can reach a height of 18 m, but is usually less than 10 m, with a spreading umbrella-like crown. The leaves, dark red on emergence, are generally obovate < 9 cm long by 5 cm broad, borne on branchlets with an irregular corky layer. The wind-pollinated apetalous flowers are produced on second-year shoots in February, followed in March by suborbicular samarae < 16 mm long by 13 mm wide.[2][3]
Ulmus szechuanica was evaluated with other Chinese elms at the Morton Arboretum, Illinois, where it exhibited a resistance to Dutch elm disease. The species is eschewed by the Elm Leaf Beetle Xanthogaleruca luteola.[4][5]
Growing best on well-drained soils, U. szechuanica is cold hardy; in artificial freezing tests at the Morton Arboretum [6] the LT50 (temp. at which 50% of tissues die) was found to be −30 °C. However, it was also found to be comparatively weak-wooded, making it susceptible to storm damage in winter.[7] There are no known cultivars of this taxon, nor is it known to be in commerce beyond the United States.
U. szechuanica is believed to have been used in post-2000 hybridization experiments at the Morton Arboretum.[8]
- North America
- Brenton Arboretum, Iowa, US. No accession details available.
- Chicago Botanic Garden, Illinois, US. 2 trees, no other details available.
- Denver Botanic Gardens, US. No details available
- Holden Arboretum, US. Acc. nos. 96-179 (unknown provenance), 97-30 wild collected in China.
- Morton Arboretum, US. Acc. nos. 429–84, 53–95.
- United States National Arboretum Washington, D.C., US. Acc. nos. 68987, 68991, 76235, 76236, 76250, 68992.
- Europe
- Grange Farm Arboretum, Lincolnshire, UK. Acc. no. 523
- Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, Hampshire, UK. Acc. no. 1994.0329, one tree, 4.4 m tall in 2008, from seed from the Shanghai Botanical Garden
- North America
- Sun Valley Garden Centre , Eden Prairie, Minnesota, US.
- Europe
- Pan-Global Plants , Frampton-on-Severn, Gloucestershire, UK.
- Pépinière AOBA , Saint Ouen la Rouerie, France.
- Lin, Q.; Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI).; IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group (2019). "Ulmus szechuanica". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T152844046A152844051. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T152844046A152844051.en. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
- Fu, L. & Jin J. (eds). (1992). China Red Data Book. Rare and endangered plants. Vol. 1. Science Press, Beijing.
- Miller, F. & Ware, G. (1884). Preference for and Suitability of Selected Elms Ulmus spp. and their Hybrids for the Elm Leaf Beetle, (Pyrrhalta luteola Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Journal of Environmental Horticulture. 12(4):231 - 235. December 1994.
- "Elm Leaf Beetle Survey". Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
- Ware, G. (1995). Little-known elms from China: landscape tree possibilities. Journal of Arboriculture, (Nov. 1995). International Society of Arboriculture, Champaign, Illinois, US. Archived 2007-11-30 at the Wayback Machine
- Mittempergher, L. & Santini, A. (2004). Elm breeding history. Invest Agrar: Sist Recur For, (2004), 13 (1), 161-177.