Ulmus villosa
Cherry Bark Elm
Taxonomy and growth
Uses
Edible uses
Leaves - raw or cooked.
- Plant part
- Leaves
Material uses
Wood - hard, somewhat scented. Used for furniture[2].
- Product or use
- Wood
Ecology and functions
- Ecosystem niche
- Canopy
Environment
- Range
- E. Asia - Himalayas.
- Habitat
- Found at altitudes up to 3500 metres in the Himalayas[2].
- 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[4]. Stored seed does not germinate so well and should be sown in early spring[4]. 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[5]. 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[4].
Cultivation
Prefers a fertile soil in full sun[3], but is easily grown in any soil of at least moderate quality so long as it is well drained[1]. Susceptible 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[4]. 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[4].
References
F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951-00-00
Gamble. J. S. A Manual of Indian Timbers. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh 1972-00-00
Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990-00-00 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
McMillan-Browse. P. Hardy Woody Plants from Seed. Grower Books 1985-00-00 ISBN 0-901361-21-6