Practical
Plants

Ulmus davidiana

Japanese Elm

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Taxonomy and growth

Family
Ulmaceae
Genus
Ulmus
Life cycle
perennial
Foliage
deciduous
Woodiness
woody
Height
15 m
Fertility
Wind
Flower type
hermaphrodite
Pollinators
Wind

Uses

Edible uses

Leaves - raw or cooked[2][3]. Young fruits - cooked[2][3]. Inner bark - dried, ground into a powder and used as a thickening in soups or added to cereal flours when making bread etc[2][3].

Plant part
Fruit
Plant part
Inner bark
Plant part
Leaves

Material uses

A fibre is obtained from the inner bark[5]. The bark is soaked for 7 - 10 days in water, the inner and outer barks are then separated and the inner bark is stripped into strands and made into thread by chewing it. It is made into a coarse fabric[5]. Wood - heavy, difficult to work. Used for axles, hubs etc[8][9].

Product or use
Fibre
Product or use
Wood

Ecology and functions

Ecosystem niche
Canopy

Environment

Range
E. Asia - China, Japan, Korea.
Habitat
Slopes, wetlands near streams and valleys at elevations of 2000 - 2300 metres[7].
Light
full sun
Shade tolerance
light shade
Water
moderate
Hardiness
Zone 5+
Soil textures
sandy, loamy, clay
Soil pH
acid, neutral, alkaline
Drainage
well drained
Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
No
Drought
intolerant

Propagation

Seed - if sown in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe, it usually germinates within a few days[6]. Stored seed does not germinate so well and should be sown in early spring[6]. The seed can also be harvested 'green' (when it has fully developed but before it dries on the tree) and sown immediately in a cold frame. It should germinate very quickly and will produce a larger plant by the end of the growing season[10]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Plants should not be allowed to grow for more than two years in a nursery bed since they form a tap root and will then move badly. Layering of suckers or coppiced shoots[6].

Cultivation

Prefers a fertile soil in full sun[4], but it is easily grown in any soil of at least moderate quality so long as it is well drained[1]. This species is resistant to 'Dutch elm disease', a disease that has destroyed the greater part of all the elm trees growing in Britain. The disease is spread by means of beetles. There is no effective cure (1992) for the problem, but most E. Asian, though not Himalayan, species are resistant (though not immune) to the disease so the potential exists to use these resistant species to develop new resistant hybrids with the native species[6]. The various species of this genus hybridize freely with each other and pollen is easily saved, so even those species with different flowering times can be hybridized[6]. Closely related to U. japonica[6].

References

  1. F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951-00-00

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  2. Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976-00-00

    ↩1↩2↩3

  3. Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984-00-00 ISBN 3874292169

    ↩1↩2↩3

  4. Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990-00-00 ISBN 0-86318-386-7

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  5. Bell. L. A. Plant Fibres for Papermaking. Liliaceae Press 1988-00-00

    ↩1↩2

  6. Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5

    ↩1↩2↩3↩4↩5↩6

  7. Flora of China 1994-00-00 http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/

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  8. Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959-00-00

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  9. Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974-00-00 ISBN 0094579202

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  10. McMillan-Browse. P. Hardy Woody Plants from Seed. Grower Books 1985-00-00 ISBN 0-901361-21-6

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