Hybrid Elms (Ulmus glabra x Ulmus minor) Cultivars
This group includes at least two elms - the Dutch Elm (Ulmus x hollandica nm hollandica) and
the Huntingdon Elm (Ulmus x hollandica nm vegeta). Both these trees are presumed hybrids
between Wych Elm and East Anglian Elm. The leaves of both Dutch and Huntingdon Elms are
large, as big as Wych Elm, but in most cases they are smooth on the upper surface, although I
have found scabrid examples, presumably attributed to Wych Elm being one of the parent trees.
Dutch Elm leaves are very variable with a tendency to being broadly ovate while Huntingdon
elm leaves have a tendency to be elliptical. A useful distinguishing feature is the petiole. It is
very much longer than Wych Elm, up to three quarters of an inch is not uncommon.
Huntingdon Elm seems to have, generally, a longer petiole than Dutch.
Mature Dutch Elms have an irregular spreading habit, while Huntingdon has a distinctive
short trunk which forks, producing a crown like an inverted cone.
The bark of the two trees is very different. Dutch Elm bark breaks into small shallow flakes,
while Huntingdon Elm, even in smallish trees, has rugged, deeply-fissured bark which does not
break into plates.
Dutch Elm produces suckers, while Huntingdon does not.
I have found a few groups of suckers and/or small trees of this group in south-west Essex.
Doubtless they have been planted elsewhere in Essex. The Huntingdon Elm is a common urban
elm. It became fashionable about 1890-1920 (Rackham, pers. comm.). Usually if the tree is
near human habitation and looks to have been planted (i.e. there is a row of them) I have included
them under either Dutch or Huntingdon Elm. South-west Essex is also outside the range of the
Hybrid Elms mapped by Richens (1967) and so the ones I have located are less likely to be
naturally occurring hybrids.
Hybrid Elms (Ulmus glabra x Ulmus minor) Naturally Occurring
This group includes the Hybrid Elms of north Essex. It is another large and very variable group
of elms, the leaves with characters intermediate between Wych Elm and East Anglian Elm (see
p. 17 ). Perhaps the term 'Intermediates' may better describe this group. There is a possibility
not all the elms are hybrids. It is also worth noting that some Hybrid Elms can come close to
the Dutch Elm cultivar.
The leaves are as variable as the genes of the putative parents would seem to allow. Some
have short petioles, others long. Some have long narrow leaves, others have shorter broader
leaves. Other leaves show a remarkable difference in the length of each side of the lamina.
The bark seems to be very variable. I found some very rugged deeply fissured bark on the
now dead elm on Great Saling Green (possibly because of its age), while others have only lightly
fissured bark.
This group of elms has non-suckering (or lightly suckering types) and suckering types.
Oliver Rackham records a group of woodland elms, a non-suckering intermediate, which he
calls Lineage Elms (after Lineage Wood in Suffolk) which is found in many woods in north
Essex. Typically the leaves of Lineage Elm are somewhat glossy on the upper surface. Other
Hybrid Elms are found in Essex in a band stretching from Hertfordshire to the Suffolk border.
R. H. Richens (1967) ascribes three definite and three probable types of elm to this group in
Essex (see Fig.2).
Hybrid Elms (Ulmus procera x Ulmus minor) Naturally Occurring
Richens (1967) recorded some six specimens that he ascribed to this group. The leaves were
all similar to English Elm (Ulmus procera) in shape, but with a smooth upper leaf surface, a
longer petiole and smaller teeth. He recorded samples from Copford, Harlow, Langham,
Chrishall, Stapleford Abbots and Woodham Walter. I have found a single small tree, possibly
of this group, in a wood at Collier Row. The leaf is illustrated on p. 13.
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