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Ulmus pumila
Also called Dwarf Elm, Manchurian Elm, Littleleaf Elm, Chinese Elm, Siberian Elm, Dwarf Elm
Ulmus pumila is a fast-growing, often bushy deciduous tree native to Central Asia, Siberia and northern China, widely planted and naturalized in North America and Europe. It is tough and adaptable, and tolerates cold, drought and poor soils.
Ulmus pumila, the Siberian elm, is a tree native to Asia. It is also known as the Asiatic elm and dwarf elm, but sometimes mistakenly called the "Chinese" elm (Ulmus parvifolia). U. pumila has been widely cultivated throughout Asia, North America, Argentina, and southern Europe, becoming naturalized in many places, notably across much of the United States.
U. pumila was introduced into Spain as an ornamental, probably during the reign of Philip II (1556–98), and from the 1930s into Italy. In these countries, it has naturally hybridized with the field elm (U. minor). In Italy, it was widely used in viniculture, notably in the Po River Valley, to support the grape vines until the 1950s, when the demands of mechanization made it unsuitable.
Three specimens were supplied by the Späth nursery of Berlin to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) in 1902 as U. pumila, in addition to specimens of the narrow-leaved U. pumila cultivar 'Pinnato-ramosa'. One was planted in RBGE; the two not planted in the Garden may survive in Edinburgh, as it was the practice of the Garden to distribute trees about the city. Kew Gardens obtained specimens of U. pumila from the Arnold Arboretum in 1908 and, as U. pekinensis, via the Veitch Nurseries in 1910 from William Purdom in northern China. A specimen obtained from Späth and planted in 1914 stood in the Ryston Hall arboretum, Norfolk, in the early 20th century.
The tree is native to Central Asia, eastern Siberia, the Russian Far East, Mongolia, Tibet, northern China, India (northern Kashmir), and Korea. It is the last tree species encountered in the semidesert regions of Central Asia.
The unripe seeds have long been eaten by the peoples of Manchuria, and during the Great Chinese Famine, they also became one of the most important foodstuffs in the Harbin region. The leaves were also gathered, to the detriment of the trees, prompting a prohibition order by the authorities, which was largely ignored. The leaves eaten raw are not very palatable, but stewed and prepared with kaoliang or foxtail millet make a better-tasting and more filling meal.
Winged elm · American elm · Ulmus 'Androssowii' · Cedar elm · Wych Elm · European White Elm · Ulmus lanceifolia · Ulmus minor 'Plotii' · Chinese elm · Slippery elm · Rock elm · Elm
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Ulmus pumila 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.
