About

Ulmus villosa, the cherry-bark elm or Marn elm, is one of the more distinctive Asiatic elms, and a species capable of remarkable longevity. It is endemic to the valleys of the Kashmir at altitudes of 1,200–2,500 metres (3,900–8,200 feet) but has become increasingly rare owing to its popularity as cattle fodder. Mature trees are now largely restricted to temples and shrines where they are treated as sacred. Some of these trees are believed to be over 800 years old.

How to grow it

A tree once grown at Kew Gardens, London, planted in 1935, attained a height of 29 m (95 ft) (bole girth 86 cm) and was considered very elegant, although it tended to shed shoots after flowering heavily; it was felled in the early 1990s after succumbing to Dutch elm disease. Two trees planted as part of the UK Forestry Commission's elm trials at the Westonbirt Arboretum in the 1970s also died, although the cause of death has not been recorded. The tree was propagated and marketed by the Hillier & Sons nursery, Winchester, Hampshire from 1971 to 1977, with sales totalling 38.

Plantings elsewhere in Europe are few and far between. A line of more than 20 trees survives at Wageningen in the Netherlands, collected by Heybroek in the Himalayas in 1960. Several trees also survive in the Gijsbrecht-Amstelpark area of Amsterdam and in the port. One U. villosa was planted in 2018 in De Vijnen park, Nederhorst den Berg, and a second in the garden of the Loosdrecht town hall, as part of Wijdemeren City Council's elm collection.A ten year-old U.

Where it grows

U. villosa has a low susceptibility to Dutch elm disease and the elm leaf beetle (Xanthogaleruca luteola), but a moderate susceptibility to elm yellows.

Other Ulmus plants

Winged elm · American elm · Ulmus 'Androssowii' · Ulmus ×arbuscula · Ulmus minor subsp. canescens · Cedar elm · Ulmus 'Densa' · Wych Elm · Ulmus glaucescens var. glaucescens · Ulmus glaucescens var. lasiocarpa · Ulmus glaucescens · Ulmus harbinensis