Ulmus 'Purpurea'

Description

Of Ulmus Stricta Purpurea Wood wrote (1851): "When young, the foliage is dark purple, in the way of the Purple Beech. As the season advances, it becomes somewhat greener, but always retains a distinct and peculiar character."

'Purpurea' grows to 25 m in height, and is short-trunked with open, straggling, ascending branches. The leaf-buds are long, sharply pointed and dark purple, on shoots of the same colour. The flowers, too, emerge a uniform dark purple. The fruit, tinged purple over the seed, is intermediate between U. glabra and U. minor. The leaves, which are slightly folded, have a brief purplish-green flush in spring. The new leaves of lower bole-shoots and of suckers are pure dark purple, without any green. After the spring flush, the leaves become olive green then darken in the summer. Their underside is paler, so that, with their increasing fold as the year progresses, the late-summer foliage has a greyish look. The bark of younger trees has a reddish-brown hue. File:AZ0016. Ulmus Purpurea samarae. Warriston Cemetery, Edinburgh.jpg|'Purpurea' samarae, confirming hybridity File:AZ0016. Ulmus Purpurea new bole-shoots. Warriston Cemetery, Edinburgh.jpg|New bole-shoots File:AZ0016. Ulmus Purpurea (dark purple). Warriston Cemetery, Edinburgh.jpg|Low bole-shoots File:AZ0016. Ulmus Purpurea new canopy-leaves. Warriston Cemetery, Edinburgh.jpg|New canopy-leaves File:AZ0016. Ulmus Purpurea in May, army or olive green. Warriston Cemetery, Edinburgh.jpg|Olive green canopy, May File:Ulmus glabra 'Atropurpurea'.JPG|Summer foliage, Brighton File:Leaves of Ulmus 'Purpurea'.jpg|Pressed leaves, August File:AZ0016. Ulmus Purpurea bark. Warriston Cemetery, Edinburgh.jpg|Bark

Pests and diseases

The tree is susceptible to Dutch elm disease.

Cultivation

'Purpurea' Hort. was in cultivation in Europe from the 1860s. Later, U. × hollandica 'Purpurascens' was "produced in quantity" by nurseries in Oudenbosch, the Netherlands. It is still present in Sweden, but appears to have been rarer in cultivation in the UK; Wilkinson in his researches for Epitaph for the Elm (1978) had never seen a specimen. In 2007 the Swedish Biodiversity Centre's 'Programme for Diversity of Cultivated Plants' included 'Purpurascens' (mistakenly called Ulmus procera 'Purpurea' in Sweden) in their plant conservation programme.

Introduced to the USA in the late 1860s as Ulmus stricta purpurea, 'Purple leaved elm' was stocked by the Mount Hope Nursery (also known as Ellwanger and Barry) of Rochester, New York. An U. campestris purpurea, 'Purple-leaved English Elm', of "compact upright growth" with "leaves a purple color in May and June", appeared in the 1902 catalogue of the Bobbink and Atkins nursery, Rutherford, New Jersey, and an U. stricta purpurea, also called 'Purple-leaved English Elm', "a tree with erect branches and purplish-red leaves", in both Bobbink and Atkins' 1902 catalogue and Kelsey's 1904 catalogue, New York. An elm obtained in 1922 from H. Kohankie & Son is listed by the Morton Arboretum, Illinois, as Ulmus procera 'Purpurea', but without description. Its leaves do not flush purple. In arboretum photographs (2011) its bark and form do not appear to resemble hybrid 'Purpurea'.

In Australia cultivars by the name of U. glabra Huds. 'Purpurea', U. procera 'Purpurea' and U. purpurea appear in nursery catalogues dating from 1882; these are now believed to be synonymous with the clone in cultivation there as U. × hollandica 'Purpurascens'. 'Purpurascens' was sold by Searl's Garden Emporium, Sydney at the beginning of the 20th century and was "quite widely" planted in the south-east of the country, where it is said to tolerate dry conditions. Urban plantings include avenue specimens and scattered trees in Fawkner Park, Melbourne. File:Ulmus montana, With., L. var. purpurea. State Nursery, Campbelltown.jpg|'Purpurea', State Nursery, Campbelltown, New South Wales, 1908

Notable trees

A large specimen stands in Warriston Cemetery, Edinburgh (middle level). Six of the seven mature specimens growing there were felled in the 1990s; the seventh, near the east gate, remains healthy (2019) (height 20 m, bole-girth 2.2 m; labelled 03159 CEM). (Ignorance of this cultivar may have occasioned unnecessary felling: the tree's naturally upcurled, greyish foliage in late summer may be mistaken for foliage affected by Dutch elm disease.) A vigorous sucker in the cemetery has now become an established tree. In the Netherlands an old specimen, supplied by De Reebock nurseries in Oudenaarde, Belgium, stood until c.2010 in the Burgemeester Mijnlieffstraat in the town of Anna Paulowna. In Australia the Avenue of Honour at Wallan, Victoria, was planted solely with 'Purpurascens' in the early 1920s, most of which survive, and the cultivar was also included in the Avenue of Honour in Ballarat in 1918. A large old purple-flushing elm stands in the gardens of the Hedvig Eleonora Church, Östermalm, Stockholm, with foliage appearing to match the hybrid purple elms in Edinburgh and Brighton. File:Ulmus 'Purpurea'. Hedvig Eleonora kyrka 2014 10.jpg|Hedvig Eleonora Church purple-leaved elm, Stockholm, 2014 File:Anna Paulowna - Kerk.JPG|'Purpurascens' (left), Ned. Herv. Kerk, Burgemeester Mijnlieffstraat, Anna Paulowna, 2010

Synonymy

• Ulmus montana (: glabra) var. atropurpurea: Elwes and Henry
• Ulmus montana (: glabra) 'Purpurea': Kew Garden list of names
• Ulmus 'Purpurea': Koch; Bean;
• Ulmus x hollandica 'Purpurascens': Fontaine, Dendroflora No.5 (1968)
• ?Ulmus campestris (: minor) 'Purpurea': Kirchner http://kiki.huh.harvard.edu/databases/botanist_search.php?id=2793
• ?Ulmus procera 'Purpurea': Morton Arboretum Catalogue 2006.

Accessions

Europe

• Brighton & Hove City Council, UK. NCCPG elm collection http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/content/leisure-and-libraries/parks-and-green-spaces/list-plants-collection .
• Grange Farm Arboretum, Sutton St. James, Spalding, Lincolnshire, UK. As U. glabra 'Purpurea'. Acc. no. 1068.
• RBG Wakehurst Place, UK. Listed as U. glabra 'Atropurpurea'. Acc. no. 1896–1411.

Australasia

• Avenue of Honour, Wallan, Victoria, Australia.
• Avenue of Honour, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.

North America

• Dominion Arboretum, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Acc. no. 2596.

Nurseries

Europe

• Centrum voor Botanische Verrijking vzw, Kampenhout, Belgium (as Ulmus glabra 'Purpurea').
• Loenbaek Planteskole http://www.loenbaek.dk/planter/ulmus-purpurea.html , Holstebro, Denmark.
• Propagation Nurseries Vermeerderingstuin http://www.vermeerderingstuinen.nl/index2.php?pid=22&taalkeuze=2 Horst and Zeewolde, Netherlands

References

References

1. Wood, John Frederick. (1852). "Coppiceana". The Midland Florist and Suburban Horticulturist.
2. [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.32044103102810?urlappend=%3Bseq=397 Wesmael, Alfred, ''Bulletin de la Fédération des sociétés d'horticulture de Belgique'' 1862: (Ghent, 1863), p.390]
3. [https://archive.org/stream/arboretummuscav01kircgoog#page/n573/mode/1up Petzold and Kirchner in ''Arboretum Muscaviense'' (Gotha, 1864), p.557]
4. Koch, K. [https://archive.org/stream/dendrologiebum02kochuoft#page/n423/mode/1up ''Dendrologie; Bäume, Sträucher und Halbsträucher, welche in Mittel- und Nord- Europa im Freien kultivirt werden'' 2 (1), 416 (1872)]
5. (1913). "The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland".
6. (1913). "The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland".
7. (1968). "Ulmus". Dendroflora.
8. Bean, W. J. (1988) ''Trees and shrubs hardy in Great Britain'', 8th edition, Murray, London, p. 640 (under ''U. angustifolia''
9. Kemp, Eddie. (1979). "After the Elm". William Heinemann Ltd.
10. [https://books.google.com/books?id=jLabuEqJNNsC&dq=Horticultural+Flora+Of+South-+Eastern+Australia+ulmus&pg=PA105 Spencer, Roger, ed., ''Horticultural Flora of South-Eastern Australia'', Vol. 2 (Sydney, 1995), ''Ulmus'', p.111]
11. Spencer, R., Hawker, J. and Lumley, P. (1991). ''Elms in Australia''. Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne. {{ISBN. 0724199624.
12. Green, Peter Shaw. (1964). "Registration of cultivar names in Ulmus". [[Arnold Arboretum]], [[Harvard University]].
13. (1902–1903). "Katalog". L. Späth Baumschulenweg.
14. (1930). "Späth-Buch, 1720-1930". Self published.
15. "Inglise jalakas ´Purpurea´". jarvselja.ee.
16. (1899). "Catalogue of the trees and shrubs in the arboretum and botanic gardens at the central experimental farm".
17. The leaves of Wesmael's (1863) ''Ulmus purpurea'' Hort. were a "characteristic bronzy green" (canopy new leaves). Those of Petzold and Kirchner's (1864) ''Ulmus campestris'' var. ''purpurea'', syn. ''Ulmus purpurea'' Hort., "emerged dark purple, later becoming more green, but always of a very dark, reddish-green which is peculiar". Koch's ''U. purpurea'' (1872) had "leaves purple when young, changing to dark green".{{Naturalis Biodiversity Center |id=L.1581936 |name=Ulmus procera Salisb. var. stricta purpurea}} Sheet labelled ''U. procera'' Salisb. var. ''stricta purpurea'' (Arnold Arboretum specimen, 1930); {{Naturalis Biodiversity Center |id=L.1581933 |name=Ulmus procera Salisb. var. purpurea Rehder}} Sheet labelled ''U. procera'' Salisb. var. ''purpurea'' Rehder (Arnold Arboretum specimen, 1930); {{Naturalis Biodiversity Center |id=WAG.1847116 }} Sheet labelled ''U. × hollandica'' var. ''purpurea''; {{Naturalis Biodiversity Center |id=L.1590639 |name=Ulmus campestris L. var. complicata}} Sheet labelled ''U. campestris'' L. ''complicata'' (Baenitz) (Breslau, 1903) (?); [http://science.udau.edu.ua/assets/files/maslovata-mamchur-parubok.pdf Herbarium specimen of ''U. montana purpurea'', science.udau.edu.ua]
18. Photograph of newly emerged leaves of 'Purpurea' in Denmark, www.loenbaek.dk [http://www.loenbaek.dk/planter/ulmus-purpurea.html] {{Webarchive. link. (2012-03-22)
19. Emerging 'Purpurea' leaves photographed against sunlight, www.kuningas.ee [http://www.kuningas.ee/kalda/album/ulmusglabrapurpurea.html]
20. [http://www.kuningas.ee/kalda/album/ulmusglabrapurpurea1.html Photograph of 'Purpurea' cuttings, www.kuningas.ee]
21. [https://books.google.com/books?id=jLabuEqJNNsC&dq=Horticultural+Flora+Of+South-+Eastern+Australia+ulmus&pg=PA105 Spencer, Roger, ed., ''Horticultural Flora of South-Eastern Australia'', Vol. 2 (Sydney, 1995), ''Ulmus'', p.112]
22. (1880). "Anthony waterer's catalogue".
23. [https://archive.org/stream/vHoutte195Arbr#page/n47/mode/2up ''Cultures de Louis van Houtte: Plantes Vivaces de Pleine Terre''], ''Catalogue de Louis van Houtte, 1881-2'', p.303
24. 'Standard Ornamental Trees' in ''Forest, hardy ornamental trees, conifers, etc.'', Richard Smith & Co., Worcester, 1887–88, p.27
25. E. E. Kemp (Curator, [[Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh]] 1950-71) in ''After the Elm'', eds. Clouston & Stansfield, (London, 1979), p.35
26. (2014). "Märkesträd i Sverige - 10 Almar". Lustgården.
27. Leaves and samarae of 'Purpurascens', 'Programme for Diversity of Cultivated Plants', Sweden, pom.info, [http://www.pom.info/veckansvaxt/2007/v21.htm] {{Webarchive. link. (2011-11-14)
28. [https://archive.org/details/ellwangerbarrysd1868moun/page/8 Ellwanger & Barry, ''Descriptive Catalogue of Hardy Ornamental Trees ... at the Mount Hope Nurseries'' (Rochester, N.Y., 1868), p.9]
29. (1902). "Bobbink and Atkins, Rutherford. N.J.".
30. (1904). "General catalogue, 1904 : choice hardy trees, shrubs, evergreens, roses, herbaceous plants, fruits, etc.". Frederick W. Kelsey.
31. ''Ulmus procera'' 'Purpurea': Morton Arboretum Catalogue, Accession no. 593–22
32. "" ''U. procera'' 'Purpurea' ", acorn.mortonarb.org".
33. [https://acorn.mortonarb.org/Detail/collections/10972 Photographs of " ''U. procera'' 'Purpurea' " from H. Kohankie & Son, at Morton Arboretum (2011); 'Ulmus Series', acorn.mortonarb.org]
34. [https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/34926332?selectedversion=NBD9147128 Brookes, Margaret, & Barley, Richard, ''Plants listed in nursery catalogues in Victoria, 1855-1889'' (Ornamental Plant Collection Association, South Yarra, Victoria, 1992), p.303–304]
35. Spencer, R.. (1991). "Elms in Australia". Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne.
36. Sibbing, Nick. "Significant Elms of South-Eastern Australia". advancedtrees.com.au.
37. 'Purpurascens' in Fawkner Park, Melbourne: elsewhere.polydistortion.net [http://elsewhere.polydistortion.net/pics/melbourne/1999/11/15-fawkner-park]
38. Google Maps: [https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.8617093,4.8340804,3a,37.5y,213.67h,101.35t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s_14C9L-Z92T4B_jkTuUxog!2e0!5s20090701T000000!7i13312!8i6656 Burgemeester Mijnlieffstraat Google Maps (July 2009)], accessdate: November 3, 2020
39. Photographs of 'Purpurascens', Avenue of Honour, Wallan, Victoria: vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au [http://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/vhd/heritagevic#detail_places;71262]
40. [http://www.ballarat.com/avenue.htm ballarat.com] {{Webarchive. link. (2014-04-13)
41. "www.tradgardsakademin.se".
42. Photograph of purple-flushing elm, Hedvig Eleonora Church, Stockholm (to right of church) [https://trevl.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/hedvig-eleonora-church-stockholm.jpg] {{Webarchive. link. (2018-01-20)
43. Aerial photograph of Hedvig Eleonora Church, the dark crown of purple-flushing elm visible near the east window [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hedvig_eleonora_kyrka_fr%C3%A5n_luften.jpg]
44. National Elm Collection elm listNational Elm Collection list www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/index.cfm?request=c1108042
45. Centrum voor Botanische Verrijking vzw: [http://www.botanischeverrijking.be/CBV/CBV_catalogus.html Voorraadlijst] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-02-06 , accessdate: November 2, 2016)