Ulmus 'Pitteurs'
| Ulmus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Cultivar | 'Pitteurs' |
| Origin | Belgium |
Ulmus 'Pitteurs' is probably one of a number of elm cultivars arising from the crossing of the Wych Elm Ulmus glabra with a variety of Field Elm Ulmus minor. The tree was first identified by Morren as l'orme Pitteurs.[2]
Description
'Pitteurs' was a tall tree, chiefly distinguished by its huge, rounded, convex leaves, < 20 cm long by < 19 cm broad, a little attenuate at the apex and with prominent venation.
Leaves of 'Pitteurs'
Cultivation
Reputedly one of two varieties obtained in 1845 by Henri Bonaventure Trudon de Pitteurs[3] of Sint-Truiden, near Liege, Belgium, the tree was planted on his estate and along roadsides in the region. Augustine Henry thought the tree, which produced shoots growing almost one metre a year, identical with those he saw at Looymans' nursery at Oudenbosch, which he considered identical to a variety of Wych Elm occasionally sold as var. macrophylla.[4]
In 1998 an unsuccessful search of the de Pitteurs-Hiegaerts Estate (now in the public domain and known as the Speelhof park) was mounted in an attempt to rediscover the elm.[5] It is assumed the cultivar fell victim to Dutch elm disease, as did thousands of other elms in the same district. However, 'Pitteurs' was known to have been marketed (as U. montana 'Pitteursi') in Poland in the 19th century by the Ulrich nursery,[6] Warsaw, and so may still survive in Eastern Europe. Several trees were thought to survive near Brighton, England; [7] the only confirmed specimen, however, at the Extra Mural Cemetery in Brighton, was blown down in the Great Storm of 1987. 'Pitteurs' is not known to have been introduced to North America or Australasia.
Accessions
None known.
Hybrid cultivars
'Pitteurs' was crossed with Ulmus × hollandica in the Dutch elm breeding programme before World War II, but none of the progeny were retained.[8]
Synonymy
- l'Orme gras
- ?l'Orme St. Trond
- Ulmus campestris latifolia, foliis rotundata: Morren, Journal d'agriculture pratique 4: 509, 511, 1851.[1]
- Ulmus campestris var pitteursii: Wesmael in Bulletin de la Fédération des sociétés d'horticulture de Belgique 1862: 382, 1863.
- Ulmus scabra macrophylla Hort.: Dieck, (Zöschen, Germany), Haupt-catalog der Obst- und gehölzbaumschulen des ritterguts Zöschen bei Merseburg 1885 p. 82.
References
- 1 2 Morren, Charles (1851). "Nouvelle notice". Journal d'agriculture pratique.
- ↑ Morren, Charles (1848). "Note sur l'0rme-Pitteurs ou orme gras à grandes feuille". Journal d'agriculture pratique.
- ↑ Schelev, A. (1854) Annuaire statistique et historique belge, page 325, Brussel - Leipzig
- ↑ Elwes, H. J. & Henry, A. (1913). The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland. Vol. VII. 1848–1929. Private publication, Edinburgh. Republished by Cambridge University Press in 2014.
- ↑ Driesen, W. (2008), Stedelijke bibliotheek de Leidrad, Sint-Truiden
- ↑ Ulrich, C. (1894), Katalog Drzew i Krezewow, C. Ulrich, Rok 1893–94, Warszawa
- ↑ Johnson, Owen (ed.) (2003). Champion Trees of Britain & Ireland. Whittet Press, ISBN 978-1-873580-61-5.
- ↑ Went, J. C. (1954). The Dutch elm disease - Summary of 15 years' hybridisation and selection work (1937–1952). European Journal of Plant Pathology, Vol 60, 2, March 1954.
External Links
- "Herbarium specimen - WAG.1847114". Botany catalogues. Naturalis Biodiversity Center.
- "Herbarium specimen - WAG.1911551". Botany catalogues. Naturalis Biodiversity Center.
- "Herbarium specimen - E00824745". Herbarium Catalogue. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.