Fruitful in leaves the Elm.
So prolific is this tree in leaves, that it affords a constant shade during the summer months, and for this reason it has been planted in most of the public and royal gardens in Europe. It is also of quick growth, as it will yield a load of timber in little more than forty years: it does not, however, cease growing—if planted in a favourable situation—neither too dry nor too moist—till it is one hundred or one hundred and fifty years old; and it will live several centuries.
The wood of the Elm is hard and tough, and is greatly esteemed for pipes that are constantly under ground. In London, before iron pipes were used, the consumption of this timber for water-pipes was enormous. It is also valuable for keels, and planking beneath the water-line of ships, and for mill-wheels and water-works. When long bows were in fashion it was used in their manufacture, and the Statutes recommend it for that purpose.
Besides U. campestris there are six other varieties which have been long naturalized in this country, the botanical descriptions of which are:—
2. U. suberosa. Ebr. Leaves nearly orbicular, acute, obliquely cordate at the base, sharply, regularly, and doubly serrate; always scabrous above, pubescent below, chiefly hairy in the axillæ. Branches spreading, bright-brown, winged with corky excrescences; when young, very hairy. Fruit nearly round, deeply cloven, naked. Grows in hedges, and flowers in March.
3. U. major. Smith. Leaves ovato-acuminate, very oblique at the base, sharply, doubly, and regularly serrate; always scabrous above, pubescent below, with dense tufts of white hairs in the axillæ. Branches spreading, bright-brown, winged with corky excrescences; when young, nearly smooth. Fruit obovate, slightly cloven, naked. U. hollandica. Miller. Grows in hedges, and flowers in March.
4. U. carpinifolia. Lindl. Leaves ovato-acuminate, coriaceous, strongly veined, simply crenate, serrate, slightly oblique and cordate at the base, shining, but rather scabrous above, smooth beneath. Branches bright-brown, nearly smooth. Grows four miles from Stratford-on-Avon, on the road to Alcester.
5. U. glabra. Miller. Leaves ovato-lanceolate, acuminate, doubly and evenly crenate-serrate, cuneate and oblique at the base, becoming quite smooth above, smooth or glandular beneath, with a few hairs in the axillæ. Branches bright-brown, smooth, wiry, weeping. Fruit obovate, naked, deeply cloven. β. glandulosa. Leaves very glandular beneath, γ. latifolia. Leaves oblong, acute, very broad. Grows in woods and hedges; β. near Ludlow; γ. at West Hatch, in Essex. Flowers in March. N. B. To this species the Downton Elm and Scampston Elm of the nurseries probably belong.
6. U. stricta. Lindl. Cornish Elm. Leaves obovate, cuspidate, cuneate at the base, evenly and nearly doubly crenate-serrate, strongly veined, coriaceous, very smooth and shining above, smooth beneath, with hairy axillæ. Branches bright-brown, smooth, rigid, erect, very compact. β parvifolia. Leaves much smaller, less oblique at the base, finely and regularly crenate, acuminate rather than cuspidate. Grows in Cornwall and North Devon; β the less common.
7. U. montana. Bauh. Witch Elm. Leaves obovate, cuspidate, doubly and coarsely serrate, cuneate and nearly equal at the base, always exceedingly scabrous above, evenly downy beneath. Branches not corky, cinereous, smooth. Fruit rhomboid, oblong, scarcely cloven, naked. U. campestris. Willd. U. effusa. Sibth., not of others. U. nuda. Chr. U. glabra, Hudson, according to Smith. N. B. Of this, the Giant Elm and the Chichester Elm of the nurseries are varieties.