74 ABNORMAL FRUITING OF THE COMMON ELM.
whatever of leaves; and even a search at close quarters revealed
only a few leaves here and there. Other trees which were less
affected produced just sufficient leaves to impart a green tinge
to the predominant brown of the fruit, when viewed from a little
distance. Yet other trees had produced, at this time, a fair
amount of foliage, though far less than the normal amount.
As the vast quantities of dry winged samara fell from the
trees, during the last days in May and the beginning of June,
they were drifted by the wind into gutters by the roadsides and
into adjacent ditches. In parks and gardens, where they had to
be swept up for the sake of tidiness, the resulting heaps were
often of surprising size. Elsewhere, the so-called "seeds" lay
in most cases until they rotted. Mr. J. Cosmo Melville, relating
his observations on the subject in Shropshire, speaks1 of "the
immense profusion of seeds, mostly perfectly matured . . . fall-
ing like snowflakes (or, with better similitude, chaff) and strewing
the ground as leaves in autumn." Again, Prof. G. S. Boulger,
writing to me from Richmond, Surrey, says:—" Certainly the
fruit crop of the elms this year was phenomenal. Here, on May
22nd and 23rd, the air was full of the samara of U. campestris,
which filled the gutters several inches deep; and my sister sent
me an account to the same effect from Shropshire."
The whole phenomenon was so striking and unusual that no
one could fail to notice it; and, at the time, it was a matter of
general comment arid conversation throughout the county. No
one, not even old men, could recollect anything of the same kind
having happened before, so far as I was able to learn, though I
made a good deal of enquiry. Yet the phenomenon has probably
been observed before; for Mr. Clement Reid, F.R.S., says2 that
"the Common Elm (Ulmus campestris) . . . , in England,
only produces perfect seed about once in forty years."
The phenomenon was, however, by no means confined to
Essex. On the contrary, it appears to have been widespread—
indeed, general. Mr. Cosmo Melville records it as having
occurred in Shropshire.3 The Rev. Augustin Ley says4: "[I
observed it] in the neighbourhood of Ross, in Herefordshire, and
in every other locality to which I have been," including
1 Journ, of Botany, 1909, p. 324.
2 Origin of the British Flora, p. 11 (1899).
3 Journ, of Botany, 1909, p. 324.
4 Op. cit., p. 355.