ABNORMAL FRUITING OF THE COMMON ELM. 75
Normandy and Brittany. Probably it occurred everywhere.
At the same time, it seems likely that the phenomenon was more
noticeable in Essex than anywhere else, owing to the enormous
abundance of the elm in our county, where it is certainly the
most characteristic and abundant tree, taking the county as a
whole, and forms (as is sometimes said) a "common hedge
weed."
As the summer went on, the deficiency of foliage, so
apparent in the spring, disappeared to some extent; for most of
the trees produced some foliage, though far less than usual and
months later than the usual time. I have not myself observed
any elm trees which have remained entirely leafless throughout
the summer as a result of exhaustion due to excessive fruiting.
Examples of this seem, however, to have been observed else-
where, and such are mentioned by both Mr. Cosmo Melville and
the Rev. Augustin Ley. "Everywhere [says the latter 5],
among non-scientific, as well as among scientific observers, the
remark has been common that the elms have killed themselves
by fruiting."
I regret being unable to state definitely the species to which
the elm or elms I observed belong. The British elms are what
botanists call "highly critical" species. That is to say, they
present many closely-allied and extremely-variable intergrading
forms, which are probably hybrids, as they seldom come true
from seed. These varied forms are usually regarded as belonging
to two species—the Wych Elm (U. glabra or U. Montana) and
the Common Elm (U. campestris). Both Messrs. Cosmo Melville
and Augustine Ley state that the trees they have seen chiefly
affected elsewhere have belonged to Ulmus glabra, but that Ulmus
campestris was affected also in a lesser degree.
To which of these species we may refer the form met with
so very abundantly as a hedge-row tree in Essex, I know not. I
believe, however, that it is U. campestris, as it presents the two
features which most authorities indicate as characteristic of
that species—namely, that it extends readily by means of
suckers and that it very rarely produces fertile fruit. There
are, however, not a few who maintain that the Common Elm of
Essex is Ulmus glabra. The point is one on which the best
botanists differ so widely that any one who has not studied the
5 Journ. of Botany, 1909, p. 355.