ABNORMAL FRUITING OF THE COMMON ELM. 77
though just ready to burst into bloom at that time, though they
did not do so. Then, again, it is probable that the exceptional
mildness of last May, when the seeds were ripening, tended to
assist the excessive fruiting.
The phenomenon was, however, not confined to this abnormal
prodigality of fruiting alone. Perhaps even more remarkable is
the fact (which I have not seen noticed elsewhere) that most of
the seeds, if not all, were fertile and germinated very freely. This is
remarkable, because, in Britain, the Common Elm (U. ? campestris)
very seldom produces fertile seeds capable of germination.
This infertility of the tree is often cited as evidence that it is
not indigenous in Britain. It is, indeed, generally regarded as
a south-European species which owes its introduction here to
the Romans. Its wood has, apparently, never been found in
Britain in association with pre-Roman remains,8 though the
the wood of the oak, ash, hazel, and other indigenous trees has
occurred frequently (often in the form of charcoal) in deposits of
pre-Roman date, and the wood of the elm is at least as durable
as any of these.9 The non-fruiting of the Common Elm may be
due, however, in whole or in part, to the fact that the tree
extends very readily by means of underground runners or
suckers; for most plants which increase readily by that means
fruit sparingly or not at all. Again, if our Common Elm is a
hybrid form (as has been suggested), that fact may also be con-
nected with its infertility; for hybrids are often sterile, wholly
or in part.
However this may be, it is certain that, in Essex, the elm
trees, though they produce samarae in fair abundance in most
years, seldom ripen the seeds contained in them; or, if they do
the latter, these seeds seldom germinate. Consequently, a
seedling elm is very rarely seen in the county, in spite of the
immense abundance of the tree itself. I cannot assert definitely
that I have ever seen, till this year, a seedling elm. Mr. F. J.
Chittenden informs me, however, that he found, in 1903, in his
garden at Chelmsford, a seedling elm which, at the time, he
regarded as belonging to Ulmus campestris, but now believes to
8 See Prof. Boulger, Forest Trees, ii., pp. 25 and 139 (? 1899).
9 It is true that charcoal made from elm wood has been recorded by Mr. A. H. Lyell,
F.S.A. (Rep. Reel Hills Explor. Com.t p. 24: 1908), as having been found by him in the "Red
Hills" on the Essex coast, which are certainly pre-Roman; but Mr. Lyall has since satisfied
himself that the wood in question was, in reality, that of some species of Ash (Fraxinus).