Ulmus × hollandica 'Modiolina'

Ulmus × hollandica
Hybrid parentage U. glabra × U. minor
Cultivar 'Modiolina'
Origin Europe

The hybrid elm cultivar Ulmus × hollandica 'Modiolina' was first described by Dumont de Courset in Bot. Cult. 3: 700, 1802, as U. campestris var. modiolina, "l'orme Tortillard". Poederlé identified the tree as the 'orme maigre' growing in the region that later became part of Belgium.[1] A tree grown at Kew was identified by Melville as U. × hollandica.[2]

Description

The tree was described as of pyramidal form, medium height, with small or medium, very deep-green, leaves and crowded branches, although specimens obtained by Swingle in France and sent to the USA were described as having large leaves.[3] When old, a number of knots or 'bosses' appeared on the trunk. The tree produced few seeds, and in some years none at all.[4] Duhamel noted that "l'orme Tortillard" 'has the most useful wood of all the elms, and also has fine foliage', adding that it is 'easily raised from seed, grafts, or layers'.[5]

Pests and diseases

A specimen at the Ryston Hall , Norfolk, arboretum, obtained from the Späth nursery in Berlin before 1914,[6] was killed by the earlier strain of Dutch elm disease in the 1930s.

Cultivation

Probably extinct. 'Modiolina' was considered in France to be the best of the elms for use by wheelwrights, its timber especially suitable for hubs of wheels. The tree was particularly abundant along the road from Paris to Meaux.[4] The tree was introduced to the USA in 1898 by Swingle, but no longer survives.[3]

References

  1. Poederlé, (1792).Man. de l'Arbor, i. 116 (1792).
  2. Green, P. S. (1964). Registration of cultivar names in Ulmus. Arnoldia, Vol. 24. Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University.
  3. 1 2 USDA (1899). Inventory No. 2 of Foreign Seeds & Plants Imported by the Section of Seed & Plant Introduction, Numbers 10011900.USDA Washington D. C.
  4. 1 2 Browne, D. J. (1846). The Trees of America. Harper & Brothers, New York.
  5. Duhamel. (1764). Exploit. des bois. i.294, 1764
  6. Ryston Hall Arboretum catalogue, circa 1920
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