Ulmus 'Louis van Houtte'

Ulmus

'Louis van Houtte', Brighton.
Cultivar 'Louis van Houtte'
Origin Belgium

Ulmus 'Louis van Houtte' (Syn. Ulmus 'Vanhouttei') is believed to have been first cultivated in Ghent, Belgium circa 1863.[1][2] It was once thought a cultivar of English Elm Ulmus minor 'Atinia', though this derivation has long been questioned; W. J. Bean called it "an elm of uncertain status".[3] It was first mentioned by Deegen in Ill. Monatsch. Gartenb. 5: 103, 1886. Its dissimilarity from the type and its Belgian provenance make the 'Atinia' attribution unlikely. The cultivar is named for the Belgian horticulturist and plant collector Louis Benoit van Houtte, 1810–1876.

Description

When young, the tree has leaves entirely yellow, a colour retained throughout summer. However, as the tree ages, the colouring begins a gradual reversion to green. The vertically fissured bark of mature trees is unlike that of English elm, with its squarish 'plated' fissuring. 'Louis van Houtte' has smaller leaves than the not dissimilar Ulmus glabra 'Lutescens' (Golden Wych Elm).

Pests and diseases

'Louis van Houtte' is vulnerable to Dutch elm disease (DED). A specimen at the Ryston Hall arboretum , Norfolk, obtained from the Späth nursery in Berlin before 1914,[4] was killed by the earlier strain of DED prevalent in the 1930s, and two specimens planted at Kew Gardens in the Pagoda Vista succumbed very rapidly to the same fate in 1931.[3] A mature specimen, which retained its yellow colouration in the crown, survived in Edinburgh's Royal Circus Gardens, before succumbing to the new strain of DED, O. novo-ulmi, in 1995.

Cultivation

'Louis van Houtte' in Christchurch Botanic Gardens, New Zealand

Before Dutch elm disease the tree was commonly cultivated in northern Europe,[5][6] and less commonly in Australasia, where the golden wych elm Ulmus glabra 'Lutescens' has sometimes been mistakenly sold by nurseries under the name 'Louis van Houtte'.[7] Two trees are known in the British Isles. The cultivar remains in commerce at a nursery in the USA.

Notable trees

Several large trees survive in Sweden, including an old specimen in Kristianstad.[8] Several old trees survive in Australasia, including a specimen in Christchurch Botanic Gardens, Christchurch, New Zealand.[9]

Synonymy

Accessions

North America

None known.

Europe

Australasia

Nurseries

North America

References

  1. ↑ Boom, B. K. (1959), Ned. Dendr. 1: 158, 1959
  2. ↑ Green, P. S. (1964). Registration of cultivar names in Ulmus. Arnoldia, Vol. 24. Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University.
  3. 1 2 Bean, W. J. (1988) Trees and shrubs hardy in Great Britain, 8th edition, Murray, London, p. 655
  4. ↑ Ryston Hall Arboretum catalogue, circa 1920
  5. ↑ Clouston, B.; Stansfield, K., eds. (1979). After the Elm. London: Heinemann
  6. ↑ Wilkinson, G. (1978). Epitaph for the Elm. London: Hutchinson.
  7. ↑ Spencer, R., Hawker, J. and Lumley, P. (1991). Elms in Australia. Australia: Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne.
  8. ↑ Photograph of 'Louis van Houtte' elm in Kristianstad, Sweden: www.tradgardsakademin.se - photo 7
  9. ↑ Photograph of 'Louis van Houtte' in Christchurch Botanic Gardens, wvendb.wordpress.com/page/3/
  10. ↑ Johnson, Owen (ed.) (2003). Champion Trees of Britain & Ireland. Whittet Press, ISBN 978-1-873580-61-5.
  11. ↑ Auckland Botanical Society Journal (2003). Vol. 58 (1), June 2003. ISSN 0113-4132
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