ciiap. ci.

j/lma'ceai. i/lmus.

1397

t 5. U. efi'u'sa Willd. The spreading-iraiic/ierf Elm.

Identification. Willd. Arb., 393.; Sp. PI., 1. p. 1325.; Spreng. Syst. Veg., 1. p. 930. j Itoem. et Schult.SystVeg., 6. p. 300.; Rees’s Cyclo., No. 6.; FI. Franc., 3. p. 316.; Duby et Dec. Bot. Gall., 1. p. 422.

Sunonymes. U. cili&ta Ehrh. Arb., 72., Sm. Engl. FI. ,2. p. 23,, incidentally j U. pedunculata Lam.Diet. , No. 2., Suppl 4. p. 187.; U oct&ndra Schk. Bot. Uandb., 178. t. 67.; V. fblio latlssimo, &c.,Buxb. Hal., 340.; U. las'vis Pal. Ross., vol. 1. p. 75.; 1’Orine pedoncule, Fr. ?

Engravings. Schk. Handb., t. 57.; Hayne, t. 29. ; our Jig . 1242.; and the plates of this tree in ourlast Volume.

Spec. Char., §c. Leaves mostly resembling those of the U. montana, butquite smooth on the upper side; unequal at the base, doubly serrated.Flowers on drooping stalks. Stamens in a flower 6—8. Samara elliptic,

deeply cloven, strongly fringed with coarse dense hairs. ( Smith in Rees'sCycl., and in Eng. FI.) A native of Europe, chiefly in the south of France ,and in the Caucasus; flowering in April and May. When it was intro-duced is uncertain.

1249

Description, %-c. This species is very distinct, even when the tree is bareof leaves, as will be seen bycomparing the winter tree of it, in our last Volume,with that of U. montana major depicted at the same season. In spring andsummer, it is equally marked by the long droop-ing peduncles of its flowers, and its hairy sa-maras. It expands its leaves, according to M.

De Foucault, at least three weeks sooner thanany other kind of elm, and a month soonerthan some of the varieties. Its leaves arelarge, and of a beautiful light shining green.

The trunk resembles that of U. montana morethan that of TJ. campestris; forming numerousbranches, and a spreading head. The buds arelong, sharply pointed, and greenish ; while inthe U. campestris they are short, obtuse, andcovered with greyish hairs. ( Annales Fores-tieres for 1811.) It is a native of Russia , whereit becomes a large tree; and has a much widergeographical range than, U. campestris, being, it would appear, one of thehardiest of European elms; and it has been found in the forests near Soissons ,and in some other parts of France . The first botanist who mentioned thistree was Pallas; and, about the same time, it was described, at length, by M.Fougeroux de Bondaroy, in the Memoires de VAcademie des Sciences for 1784.Pallas states that the wood is very hard and durable, and that it is used inRussia for all the purposes that the common elm is employed for in Europe .Bondaroy says that this sort of elm is very common by the road side, betweenVillars Cotterets and Paris ; and also between that city and Cressy. Itcomes into leaf 15 or 20 days before the common elm, and it grows muchfaster. The head is more spreading than that of the common elm; and itsbark, instead of being furrowed, is smooth. On the whole, he says, the treesare so different in their general appearance, that they may be readily distin-guished from each other, even without their leaves. The colour of the youngwood, the buds, and the size, colour, and serrature of the leaves, are re-markably like those of the Huntingdon elm; from which circumstance thisspecies is probably more nearly allied to U. montana than to U. campestris.As a tree of ornament, it is well worth cultivating for the beauty of itsleaves, for the distinct character of its spray in winter, and, indeed, for itsgeneral appearance at all seasons. In British nurseries, it is propagated bygrafting on V. montana. There are handsome young trees of it in theondon Horticultural Society’s Garden ; and there is a tree of it at Whitenights, in front of the mansion, which is 63 ft. high, the diameter of therunk 22 in., and of the head 70 ft. This tree, we are informed by the gar-ener, Mr. Ward, flowers, but does not ripen seeds, on which account itwould appear to be allied to U. campestris; but, though its roots run veryneai the surface, it never throws up a single sucker, and hence it would seem0 elong rather to U. montana. There are plants at Messrs. Loddiges’s.

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