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Ulmus glabra
Also called Scots elm, Wyth elm, Mountain elm, Scotch Elm, Scot's Elm, European Mountain Elm, Scottish Elm
Wych elm is a large deciduous forest tree, the most widely ranging European elm, usually grown as a park or woodland tree rather than a container plant. It does best in deep, moist, fertile soil and cool, humid conditions.
Ulmus glabra, the wych elm or Scots elm, has the widest range of the European elm species, from Ireland eastwards to the Ural Mountains, and from the Arctic Circle south to the mountains of the Peloponnese and Sicily, where the species reaches its southern limit in Europe; it is also native to the Caucasus region and parts of Western Asia (Turkey, Syria and Iran). A large deciduous tree, it is essentially a montane species, growing at altitudes up to 1,500 m (5,000 ft), preferring sites with moist soils and high humidity. The tree can form pure forests in Scandinavia and occurs as far north as latitude 67°N at Beiarn Municipality in Norway. It has been successfully introduced as far north as Tromsø and Alta in northern Norway (70°N). It has also been successfully introduced to Narsarsuaq, near the southern tip of Greenland (61°N).
The wych elm is moderately shade-tolerant, but requires deep, rich soils as typically found along river valleys. The species is intolerant of acid soils and flooding, as it is of prolonged drought. Although rarely used as a street tree owing to its shape, it can be surprisingly tolerant of urban air pollution, constricted growing conditions, and severe pollarding.
As wych elm does not sucker from the roots, and any seedlings are often consumed by uncontrolled deer populations, regeneration is very restricted, limited to sprouts from the stumps of young trees. The resultant decline has been extreme, and the wych elm is now uncommon over much of its former range. It is best propagated from seed or by layering stooled stock plants, although softwood cuttings taken in early June will root fairly reliably under mist.
Winged elm · American elm · Ulmus 'Androssowii' · Cedar elm · European White Elm · Ulmus lanceifolia · Ulmus minor 'Plotii' · Chinese elm · Siberian elm · Slippery elm · Rock elm · Elm
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Ulmus glabra by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
