Ulmus 'Berardii'

Summary

The elm cultivar Ulmus 'Berardii', Berard's Elm, was raised in 1865, as Ulmus Berardi, from seeds collected from large specimens of "common elm" growing on the ramparts at Metz, by an employee of the Simon-Louis nursery named Bérard.[1][2][3] Carrière (1887), the Späth nursery of Berlin and the Van Houtte nursery of Gentbrugge regarded it as form of a Field Elm, listing it as U. campestris Berardii,[2][4][5][6] the name used by Henry.[3] Cheal's nursery of Crawley distributed it as Ulmus nitens [:Ulmus minor] 'Berardii'.[7] Smith's of Worcester preferred the original, non-specific name, Ulmus 'Berardii' (1888 catalogue).[8]

Ulmus 'Berardii'
Leaves of 'Berardii'
GenusUlmus
Cultivar'Berardii'
OriginMetz, France

As with 'Koopmannii', 'Berardii' is treated in some north Eurasian treatises (for example, Krüssmann, 1984) as a cultivar of the Siberian Elm Ulmus pumila.[9] Green, who had examined dried specimens of the plant, also considered it "as possibly a form of U. pumila".[10] A much re-labelled 1820s' herbarium specimen from the Baikal region of Siberia (one conjecture was "U. siberica var. pumila ?") in the Museum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris, shows 'Berardii'-type leaves, suggesting the possibility of a French cultivation in the early 19th century of a small-leaved U. pumila, later called 'Berardii'.[11] Siberian elms with 'Berardii'-like leaves are present in Russia.[12]

Description edit

No tree-photographs of 'Berardii' are known, and descriptions of the cultivar vary. It is said to make a bushy shrub or small tree, but these descriptions date from the early decades of its cultivation, and the parent tree was large.[3] Krüssmann and Green state that it has slender upright branches,[9][10] whereas Späth described the branches as "overhanging".[4] A 1956 herbarium specimen at the Arboretum national des Barres, Nogent-sur-Vernisson, France, describes the source tree as 5 m tall with hanging branches (it includes a small pencil sketch).[13] The leaves have been described as very small, very dark green (almost black), and glabrous, 12–18 mm long. Some herbarium specimens, however, show leaves up to 4 or 5 cm long, with 1 cm petioles,[14] while Bean gives 1.5 to 4 cm long by 0.7 to 2 cm wide.[15] They have been described as strongly crenated[2] or deeply incised by relatively few teeth (four to seven); some herbarium specimens, however, show shallowly indented margins.[16] The leaf-base is cuneate and almost symmetrical.[9][17] The petioles and new shoots are downy.[3] The leaves have been likened to those of Planera crenata,[1][2] and to those of Zelkova × verschaffeltii.[3] Krüssmann noted that 'Berardii' is late to come into leaf,[9] Carrière that it holds its leaves late into autumn.[2]

Samarae do not appear in any known 'Berardii' herbarium specimens (see 'External links'). From their early dates, some of these are likely to show untypical juvenile leaves.

Huberty (1904) stated that there were variegated forms of 'Berardii'.[18][19]

Pests and diseases edit

Chevalier noted (1942) that 'Berardii' was one of four European cultivars found by researchers in The Netherlands to have significant resistance to the earlier strain of Dutch elm disease prevalent in the 1920s and '30s, the others being 'Exoniensis', 'Monumentalis' Rinz and 'Vegeta'. The four were rated less resistant than U. foliacea clone 23, from Spain, later cultivated as 'Christine Buisman'.[20]

Cultivation edit

Carrière noted that the original stock plant was still present in the Simon-Louis nursery in 1887. A specimen was grown at Kew Gardens,[21] obtained from the Späth nursery before the First World War.[3] One tree, supplied by Späth, was planted in 1893 at the Dominion Arboretum, Ottawa, Canada.[22] Three specimens were supplied by Späth to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 1902,[23] and may survive in Edinburgh, as it was the practice of the Garden to distribute trees about the city.[24] 'Berard's Elm', a "small tree, slender in growth, with leaves finely cut", was introduced to the USA c.1871,[25] appearing in the catalogues of the Mount Hope Nursery (also known as Ellwanger and Barry) of Rochester, New York,[26][27] and of Kelsey's, New York.[28] A specimen stood in the New York Botanical Garden in the early 20th century,[29] and one in the Arboretum national des Barres, Nogent-sur-Vernisson, France, in the mid 20th century.[13][30] The tree is not known to remain in cultivation, though 51 specimens were reported from the Jūrmalas park in Liepāja, Latvia (2003).[31]

Putative 'Berardii' edit

An old non-suckering elm in the garden of The Bank of Scotland HQ in central Edinburgh (2018), which produces a very small number of 'Berardii'-like leaves among more regular ones, holds its leaves late like 'Berardii', and, in its form, recalls the 'Berardii' sketch and tracery from des Barres,[13] may be one of Späth's 1902 three. It is known that Späth re-sourced some of his elms, rather than cloning them from nursery-stock – his U. campestris cornubiensis is not type-Cornish,[32][33] his Ulmus campestris viminalis is not 'Viminalis' Loudon,[34][35] and his Ulmus 'Tiliaefolia' is not 'Tiliaefolia' Host.[36][37] The original trees were still present on the ramparts at Metz when Späth began cultivating his clone, which he renamed U. campestris Berardii.[4] At least one 'Berardii' herbarium specimen appears to show that the zelkova-like leaves are not unvarying.[38]

Synonymy edit

  • Ulmus berardii: Simon-Louis Catalogue, 1869,  p. 96. fig. 7.

References edit

  1. ^ a b "New and rare plants". The Gardener's Monthly and Horticultural Advertiser. 16: 123. 1874.
  2. ^ a b c d e Ulmus campestris Berardi, E.-A. Carrière, Revue horticole : journal d'horticulture practique, Paris 1887; p.63
  3. ^ a b c d e f Elwes, Henry John; Henry, Augustine (1913). The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland. Vol. 7. p. 1906.
  4. ^ a b c Katalog (PDF). Vol. 108. Berlin, Germany: L. Späth Baumschulenweg. 1902–1903. pp. 132–133.
  5. ^ Späth, Ludwig (1930). Späth-Buch, 1720-1930. Berlin: Self published. pp. 311–313, 351–352
  6. ^ Cultures de Louis van Houtte: Plantes Vivaces de Pleine Terre [Catalogue de Louis van Houtte, 1881-2] p.303
  7. ^ J. Cheal & Sons, Crawley, Sussex; pre-1914 catalogue
  8. ^ 'Standard Ornamental Trees' in Forest, hardy ornamental trees, conifers, etc., Richard Smith & Co., Worcester, catalogue 1887–88, p.27
  9. ^ a b c d Krüssmann, Gerd, Manual of Cultivated Broad-Leaved Trees & Shrubs (1984 vol. 3)
  10. ^ a b Green, Peter Shaw (1964). "Registration of cultivar names in Ulmus". Arnoldia. 24 (6–8). Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University: 41–80. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  11. ^ science.mnhn.fr Herbarium specimen P06880833
  12. ^ 'Berardii'-like U. pumila (Saratov district, Russia, October 20, 2011); planetarium.russ, image 158747
  13. ^ a b c "Herbarium specimen - WAG.1911572". Botany catalogues. Naturalis Biodiversity Center. 'Berardii', Arboretum national des Barres, Nogent-sur-Vernisson, France; with sketch (1956)
  14. ^ "Herbarium specimen - WAG.1853186". Botany catalogues. Naturalis Biodiversity Center. U. Berardii, Springer Herbarium, Haarlem
  15. ^ Bean, W. J. (1936) Trees and shrubs hardy in Great Britain, 7th edition, Murray, London, vol. 2
  16. ^ "Herbarium specimen - WAG.1853190". Botany catalogues. Naturalis Biodiversity Center. 'Berardii', The Hague, 1932
  17. ^ "Herbarium specimen - WAG.1853187". Botany catalogues. Naturalis Biodiversity Center. U. procera var. Berardii Springer Herbarium, Haarlem; "Herbarium specimen - WAG.1853188". Botany catalogues. Naturalis Biodiversity Center. U. procera var. Berardii; "Herbarium specimen - WAG.1853189". Botany catalogues. Naturalis Biodiversity Center. 'Berardii', The Hague, 1932
  18. ^ Huberty, J., 'Etude forestière et botanique sur les ormes', Bulletin de la Société centrale forestière de Belgique 1904, p.427
  19. ^ Variegated branchlet of 'Berardii'-like U. pumila, Almaty, Kazakhstan, 2013 plantarium.ru, image 600525
  20. ^ "Les Ormes de France" (PDF). Revue de botanique appliquée et d'agriculture coloniale. 22 (254): 441. 1942.
  21. ^ "Herbarium specimen" - plants.jstor.org K000852707 Ulmus berardii, Kew specimen from original plant in Metz nursery (1885)
  22. ^ 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.
  23. ^ "Herbarium specimen - E00824798". Herbarium Catalogue. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. U. campestris Berardi, RBGE specimen from Späth nursery, 1902; "Herbarium specimen - E00824796". Herbarium Catalogue. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. U. campestris Berardi, RBGE specimen from Späth nursery, 1902; "Herbarium specimen - E00824797". Herbarium Catalogue. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. U. campestris Berardi, RBGE specimen from Späth nursery, 1902
  24. ^ Accessions book. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. 1902. pp. 45, 47.
  25. ^ 'Descriptive Catalogue of Ornamental Trees & Shrubs', no.2, Mount Hope Nursery, Rochester, 1871; p.6
  26. ^ Ellwanger & Barry, Descriptive Catalogue of Hardy Ornamental Trees ... at the Mount Hope Nurseries (Rochester, N.Y., 1875)
  27. ^ Ellwanger & Barry (Mount Hope nurseries), Rochester, N.Y., 1898, p.62
  28. ^ General catalogue, 1904 : choice hardy trees, shrubs, evergreens, roses, herbaceous plants, fruits, etc. New York: Frederick W. Kelsey. 1904. p. 18.
  29. ^ sweetgum.nybg.org, New York Botanical Garden U. campestris var. berardii (Simon & Louis), 1929
  30. ^ Pourtet, J.; Rol, R. (1949). "Catalogue des espèces cultivées dans l'arboretum des barres". Annales de l'école nationale des eaux et forêts et de la station de recherches et expériences (2): 316–319. hdl:2042/33539.
  31. ^ Bice, Maija; Knape, Dzintra; Šmite, Dagnija; Bondare, Ināra (2003). "Liepājas rajona koki un krūmi" [Trees and shrubs of the Liepāja region] (PDF). Latvijas Veģetācija. 6. Riga: University of Latvia publishing house: 12, 55. ISSN 1407-3641. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  32. ^ Elwes & Henry, Trees of Great Britain and Ireland (1913), p.1891
  33. ^ RBGE Cultivated herbarium accessions book: Elms cultivated at Edinburgh Botanic Garden (1958), tree C2699
  34. ^ Späth's erroneous clone, data.rbge.org.uk, herbarium specimens E00824785, E00824787, E00824880
  35. ^ RBGE Cultivated herbarium accessions book: Elms cultivated at Edinburgh Botanic Garden (1958), tree C2706
  36. ^ Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, 'Tiliaefolia' Host, specimen P06883137
  37. ^ RBGE specimen E00824829 'Tiliaefolia' Späth
  38. ^ bioportal.naturalis.nl, specimen WAG.1853186