Ulmus laevis

Ulmus laevis is similar in stature to the wych elm, if rather less symmetric, with a looser, untidy, branch structure and less neatly rounded crown. The tree typically reaches a height and breadth of > 30 m, with a trunk < 2 m d.b.h. The extensive shallow root system ultimately forms distinctive high buttresses around the base of the trunk. The bark is smooth at first, then in early maturity breaks into thin grey scales, which separate with age into a network of grey-brown scales and reddish-brown underbark, and finally is deeply fissured in old age like other elms.Elwes & Henry (1913), Mitchell (1974), Phillips (1978), Bean (1981). The leaves are deciduous, alternate, simple ovate with a markedly asymmetric base, < 10 cm long and < 7 cm broad, comparatively thin, often almost papery in texture and very translucent, smooth above with a downy underside. Significantly, the leaf veins do not divide from the central vein to the leaf margin.{{Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh |id=E00824756 }} Sheet described as U. effusa Willd.; fruit and new leaves specimen, 1840 The leaves are shed earlier in autumn than other species of European elm.

The tree is most reliably distinguished from other European elms by its long flower stems, averaging 20 mm. Moreover, the apetalous wind-pollinated flowers are distinctively cream-coloured,{{cite journal |last=Harris |first=E. |date=1996 |title=The European White Elm in Britain |journal=Quarterly Journal of Forestry |publisher=Royal Forestry Society |volume=90 |issue=2 |pages=122–123}} appearing before the leaves in early spring in clusters of 15-30; they are 3–4 mm across. The fruit is a winged samara < 15 mm long by 10 mm broad with a ciliate margin, the single round 5 mm seed maturing in late spring. The seeds have a generally high rate of germination, 45–60% for Serbian trees examined by Stilinović.Stilinović, S. (1985): Semenarstvo šumskog i ukrasnog drveća i žbunja. Univerzitet u Beogradu - Šumarski fakultet, Beograd: 1-399/Seed science of forest and decorative trees and bushes, University of Belgrade– Faculty of Forestry, Belgrade: 1-399/

Although the species is protandrous, levels of self-pollination can be high{{cite journal | last1 = Hans | first1 = A. S. | year = 1981 | title = Compatibility and Crossability Studies in Ulmus | journal = Silvae Genetica | volume = 30 | pages = 4–5 }} The tree can grow very rapidly; where planted in persistently moist soil, trunk width of 13-year-old trees increased by 4 cm per annum at breast height (d.b.h.).Brookes, A. H. (2020). Disease-resistant elm cultivars. Butterfly Conservation, Lulworth, England.

[http://www.hantsiow-butterflies.org.uk/downloads/Disease%20resistant%20elm%20cultivars%202020.pdf] The species differs from its closest relative, the American elm, mainly in the irregular crown structure and frequent epicormic shoots, features which also give the tree a distinctive winter silhouette.{{cite book|last1=Elwes|first1=Henry John|author-link1=Henry John Elwes|last2=Henry|first2=Augustine|author-link2=Augustine Henry|date=1913|title=The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland|volume=7|pages=1851–1855|url=https://archive.org/stream/treesofgreatbrit07elweuoft#page/1851/mode/2up}} Republished 2004 Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|9781108069380}}Bean, W. J. (1981). Trees and shrubs hardy in Great Britain, 7th edition. Murray, London. The American elm also has less acute leaf buds, longer petioles, narrower leaves, and a deeper apical notch in the samara which reaches the seed.Chater, A. O. (1996).'Ulmus laevis naturalized in Cards, VC46'. BSBI News 75  p.63. Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland. [http://archive.bsbi.org.uk/BSBINews75.pdf#page=63]

File:Wych elm flower.jpg|U. laevis flowers; note long stems

File:Ulmus laevis flowers - Keila.jpg|Flowers and bud

File:Ulmus laevis samarae 1.jpg|Samarae, April; note ciliate margins

File:HW laevis leaf.jpg|Ulmus laevis leaf

File:U laevis leaf underside.jpg|Leaf underside; note undivided venation beyond lobe

File:Бял бряст - листа (есен).jpg|U. laevis autumn colour

File:Ulmus laevis bark Ada Ciganlija.jpg|Bark in early maturity

File:Ulmus laevis bark Eibergen.jpg|Bark at maturity (age 100)

File:Fladderiep te Heure bij Borculo.jpg|Bole of old tree

File:Ulmus laevis. Inverleith Park (opposite Inverleith Place), Edinburgh (1).jpg|Typical epicormic shoots and dense branching

File:Ulmus laevis, incipient buttressing.jpg|Incipient buttressing, 20-year-old tree

File:Ulmus laevis bole, Sutton Veny, UK.jpg|Bole of ancient tree, showing buttressing and epicormic brush

File:UlmusBrettwurzel.jpg|U. laevis buttresses

File:Ulmus laevis root structure.jpg|Surface root structure exposed by bank erosion

Like other European elms, natural populations of the European white elm have little innate resistance to Dutch elm disease. In a study in France, losses to DED amounted to 28% over a 10 year period.{{cite journal | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220617211921/https://iforest.sisef.org/pdf/?id=ifor1206-008 | doi=10.3832/ifor1206-008 | title=Implementing the dynamic conservation of elm genetic resources in Europe: Case studies and perspectives | year=2015 | last1=Collin | first1=E. | last2=Bozzano | first2=M. | journal=IForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry | volume=8 | issue=2 | pages=143–148 | url=https://iforest.sisef.org/pdf/?id=ifor1206-008 | archive-date=2022-06-17|url-status=live | doi-access=free }} However, research by Irstea has isolated clones able to survive injection with the causal fungus, initially losing < 70% of their foliage, but regenerating strongly the following year.Solla et al. (2005). Screening European Elms for Resistance to Ophiostoma novo-ulmi. Forest Science, 134–141. 51 (2) 2005. Society of American Foresters.

The tree is not favoured by the vector bark beetles, which colonize it only when there are no other elm alternatives available,Collin, E., Bilger, I., Eriksson, G., & Turok, J. (2000). The conservation of elm genetic resources in Europe. In Dunn, C. P. (Ed.) (2000). The elms: breeding, conservation & disease management. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston. an uncommon situation in western Europe. Indeed, in a study of elm in Flanders, not one example of U. laevis was found to be afflicted by Dutch elm disease.Vander Mijnsbrugge, K., Vanden Broeck, A., & Van Slycken, J. (2005). A study of Ulmus laevis in Flanders (Northern Belgium). Belgian Journal of Botany, Vol. 138, No. 2 (2005), 199–204. Royal Botanical Society of Belgium. Research in Spain has indicated that it is the presence of an antifeedant triterpene, alnulin, at a concentration of 200 μg/g {dried bark} which renders the tree unattractive to the beetles.{{cite journal | last1 = Martín-Benito | first1 = D. | last2 = Concepción García-Vallejo | first2 = M. | last3 = Alberto Pajares | first3 = J. | last4 = López | first4 = D. | year = 2005 | title = Triterpenes in elms in Spain | journal = Can. J. For. Res. | volume = 35 | pages = 199–205 | doi = 10.1139/x04-158 | bibcode = 2005CaJFR..35..199M }} Ergo: the tree's decline in western Europe has been chiefly owing to woodland clearance in river valleys, and river management systems eliminating flooding, not disease. However, in 2020, it was noted by the Dutch forestry commission that many laevis, but only in Zeeland, were succumbing to Dutch elm disease for reasons unclear.Calle, J., Calle, L., Kopinga, J., Meffert, J. (2020). Nu ook iepziekte in fladderiep. ('Now also elm disease in White Elm'). Natuur Bos Landschap, 164–168, October 2020.

It was noted by Jouin at Metz, and a century later by Mittempergher and Santini in Italy, that U. laevis had a very low susceptibility to the elm leaf beetle Xanthogaleruca luteola.{{cite journal|last1=Mittempergher|first1=L|last2=Santini|first2=A|journal=Investigacion Agraria: Sistemas y Recursos Forestales|title=The history of elm breeding|volume=13|issue=1|pages=161–177|date=2004|url=http://www.inia.es/gcontrec/Pub/161-177-(14)-The_history_1161943529015.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211155148/http://www.inia.es/gcontrec/Pub/161-177-(14)-The_history_1161943529015.pdf|archive-date=2017-02-11}} Research in Germany has established that the tree is also eschewed by the Zig Zag sawfly Aproceros leucopoda.{{cite journal|last1=Blank|first1=S|last2=Kohler|first2=T|last3=Pfannenstill|first3=T|last4=Liston|first4=A|journal=Journal of Hymenoptera Research|title=Zig-zagging across Central Europe: recent range extension, dispersal speed and larval hosts of Aproceros leucopoda (Hymenoptera, Argidae) in Germany

|volume=41|pages=57–74|date=2013|doi=10.3897/JHR.41.8681|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269873607|doi-access=free}}

Elwes observed that trees planted at Ugbrooke in Devon were infested with Cacopsylla ulmi,Jerinić-Prodanović, D. (2006). A new jumping louse, Cacopsylla ulmi Förster (Homoptera, Psyllidae) on elm in Serbia. Acta entomologica serbica. 2006, 11 (1/2): 11–18. [http://www.eds.org.rs/AES/Vol11/02.pdf] which he had never found on any other elm in Britain, an affliction confirmed many years later by Richens, who discovered the specimens of U. laevis grown at Kew were the only elms in the Gardens afflicted by the louse, and the aphid Tinocallis platani.Richens, R. H. (1983). Elm.  p.64. Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|9780521249164}}

The species has a slight to moderate susceptibility to elm yellows.

U. laevis is essentially a riparian tree, able to withstand over 100 days of continual flooding,Spohn, M. (2008). Trees of Britain & Europe (Black's Nature Guides), 256 p. A & C Black, {{ISBN|978-140810152-0}} although it is intolerant of saline conditions [http://www.tela-botanica.org/bdtfx-nn-70308-repartition#] Spanish trees were found to be calcifuge, preferring slightly acid, siliceous soils, and also drought-intolerant, their xylem vessels prone to drought-stress cavitation.Venturas, M. et al. (2013). Ulmus laevis Pall. a native elm in the Iberian peninsula: a multidisciplinary approach. Abstracts. 3rd International Elm Conference 2013. The elm after 100 years of Dutch elm disease. Florence 2013.  p.48. In England, the tree failed to prosper in chalk stream valleys, where the soil was predominantly black peat, named 'Adventurers' for the Adventurers' Land SSSI in Cambridgeshire, owing to dehydration in summer. Trees planted in dry ground are notoriously short-lived.Pokorny, J. (1974). Colour Guide to Familiar Trees, Leaves, Bark and Fruit. Octopus, Czechoslovakia. {{ISBN|9780706402889}}

U. laevis is comparatively weak-wooded, much more so than field elm Ulmus minor, and thus an inappropriate choice for exposed locations. In trials in southern England by Butterfly Conservation, young trees of <5 m height were badly damaged by wind gusts of 40 knots (75 km/h) in midsummer storms.

The species was never widely introduced to the United States, but is represented at several arboreta. Ulmus effusa, supplied by the Späth nursery of Berlin, was planted at the Dominion Arboretum, Ottawa, Canada, in 1896,[http://vplants.org/portal/collections/individual/index.php?occid=15185406 Ulmus effusa at Ottawa, from Späth; New York Botanical Garden herbarium specimen 02465976, vplants.org] as U. pedunculata.{{Cite book|last1=Saunders|first1=William|last2=Macoun|first2=William Tyrrell|url=https://archive.org/stream/bulletinissues00ottogoog#page/n80/mode/2up/|title=Catalogue of the trees and shrubs in the arboretum and botanic gardens at the central experimental farm|year=1899|edition=2|pages=76|publisher=Ottawa}} In the Far East, the tree has been planted in Xinjiang province and elsewhere in northern China; planting in Tongliao City is known to have been particularly successful. White elm is also known to have been introduced to Australia.Spencer, R., Hawker, J. and Lumley, P. (1991). Elms in Australia, Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, Australia. {{ISBN|0-7241-9962-4}}

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the tree has enjoyed a small renaissance in England. A popular larval host plant of the white-letter hairstreak Satyrium w-album butterfly across Europe, the elm is now being planted by Butterfly Conservation and other groups to restore local populations decimated by the effects of Dutch elm disease on native or archaeophytic elms. The Cheshire Wildlife Trust, for example, planted numerous white elms on its reserves in the former Vale Royal district of the county.

File:Ulmus laevis (haaksbergseweg eibergen) 080211a.jpg|U. laevis 'Helena' as street trees, Eibergen, Netherlands

File:Seattle - Roanoke Park Ulmis laevis 01.jpg|U. laevis, Roanoke Park, Capitol Hill, Seattle, US (planted 1910)

File:Ulmen sachsenplatz dresden 2019-05-07 -5.jpg|Trimmed U. laevis, Sachsenplatz, Dresden (2019)

File:Windblown laevis on chalk of Salisbury Plain, UK, 2km from Stonehenge.jpg|Windblown laevis on chalk, Salisbury Plain, UK

File:WP U. laevis on chalk.jpg|U. laevis slow growth on chalk, 4 m in 15 years

File:Ulmus effusa. The spreading-flowered Elm. p.238.jpg

U. laevis is probably not native to the United Kingdom despite its random occurrence in the countryside, although the date and circumstances of its introduction have not survived. The earliest published references to the tree (as U. effusa, citing Willdenow) were in Sibthorp's Flora Oxoniensis (1794),{{cite book|last=Sibthorp|first=John|author-link=John Sibthorp|date=1794|title=Flora Oxoniensis|pages=87|url=https://archive.org/stream/b28039452#page/n120/mode/1up}} and (as U. effusa Willd. but without description) in Miller's posthumously revised Gardener's and Botanist's Dictionary (1807).Miller, P. (1807). [https://books.google.com/books?id=reFBAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA3-PA86 The Gardener's and Botanist's Dictionary]. Revised by Thomas Martyn, Regius Professor of Botany, University of Cambridge. The first specimen to be reported in cultivation, in 1838, was at Whiteknights Park, Reading, which featured an elm grove;Hofland, Mrs. (1819). A descriptive account of the mansion and gardens of White-Knights: a seat of His Grace the Duke of Marlborough Private publication, London.[http://www.bobins.splrarebooks.com/collection/view/descriptive-account-of-the-mansion-and-gardens-of-white-knights-a-seat-of-h]. the tree measured {{convert|63|ft|m|abbr=on}} in height, suggesting it had been planted at the end of the 18th century.{{cite book |volume=3|last=Loudon|first=John Claudius|date=1838 |title=Arboretum et fruticetum Britannicum|pages=1397|url=https://archive.org/stream/arboretumetfruti03loudrich#page/1397/mode/1up}} However, the authenticity of the Whiteknights tree is a matter of contention; it flowered but did not set fertile seed, which suggested to Loudon that it might be U. campestris (U. minor 'Atinia'), or, on account of it not producing suckers, possibly U. montana (:U. glabra). Moreover, Whiteknights was supplied by the Lee and Kennedy nursery of Hammersmith,{{cite journal |date=1833 |title=White Knights|journal=The Gardener's Magazine and Register of Rural & Domestic Improvement|volume=9|pages=665|url=https://archive.org/stream/gardenersmagazin91833loud#page/665/mode/1up}} which is not known to have stocked U. laevis. A tree at Syon Park identified by Elwes & Henry as U. laevis was later considered by Bean as more closely resembling U. americana by dint of its symmetrical branch arching. The species was not reported from the wild until 1943, with the discovery of a tree in a Surrey hedgerow.[https://web.archive.org/web/20181111000021/http://www.brc.ac.uk/plantatlas/index.php?q=node/151 Online Atlas of the British & Irish Flora]

It is possible the tree's distribution was associated with Capability Brown (1716–1783), known to have favoured U. laevis, which he listed among his preferred "native" (sic) trees.Ignatieva, M. E. and Stewart, G. H. 'Homogeneity of urban biotopes and similarity of landscape design language in former colonial cities', in: McDonnell, M., Hahs, A., & Breuste, J. (eds.) (2009). Ecology of Cities and Towns: A comparative approach. Part III, 23,  p. 409. Cambridge. {{ISBN|978-0521678339}}{{tertiary source inline|reason=McDonnell etal cite Rogers (2001). Reliable secondary or primary source needed to back up this claim.|date=October 2017}} This could explain the existence of the seven old specimens discovered by Elwes in 1908 on Mount Pleasant within Ugbrooke Park, Devon, designed by Brown in 1761.Stroud, D. (1950). Capability Brown. New edition 1984, Faber & Faber, London. {{ISBN|978-0571134052}} Ugbrooke is four miles from Mamhead Park, which had earlier been planted with numerous exotic trees, notably holm oak, collected by its owner, merchant Thomas Ball ( d. 1749) during his commercial travels in Europe.Britton, J. & Brayley, E. W. (1803). [https://archive.org/stream/beautiesofenglan04brit#page/99/mode/1up Beauties of England & Wales]. Vol. 4, Devon & Cornwall, Devonshire,  p 99. Various publishers.{{NHLE|num=1000705|desc=UGBROOKE PARK |access-date=7 February 2017}} Ball's introductions were known to have been marketed by his head gardener William Lucombe, who in 1720 founded the first commercial nursery in the south-west at Exeter,Harvey, J. (1975). Early Nurserymen. Phillimore, Chichester, UK. though an account of trees growing at Mamhead by Pince (grandson of Lucombe) in 1835 makes no mention of U. laevis nor of any other elms.{{cite journal|last1=Pince|first1=Robert T.|title=An account of some remarkable trees now growing at Mamhead|journal=The Gardener's Magazine and Register of Rural & Domestic Improvement|date=1835|volume=11|pages=127–132|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3PYWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA127|access-date=17 October 2017}} None of Lucombe's early catalogues are known to survive, and thus the introduction of U. laevis through south Devon cannot be confirmed. However, the tree does not feature in any of the surviving arboreta accessions lists, or catalogues of the larger, nationally famous, nurseries of the day, and its earliest-known mention in commerce remains in the south-west, in the catalogue of the Ford & Please nursery (as U. pedunculata) at Exeter circa 1836. James Main mentions the tree as 'a native of Hungary' and in 1838 only to be met in 'ornamental plantations',{{cite book|last1=Main|first1=James|title=The Forest Planter and Pruner's Assistant|date=1839|publisher=Ridgway|location=London|page=113|url=https://archive.org/stream/forestplanterpru00main#page/113/mode/2up}} but by 1846 was 'becoming available in (UK) nurseries'.{{cite book|last1=Main|first1=James|title=The Forest Planter and Pruner's Assistant|date=1847|publisher=Ridgway|location=London|edition=2}}

U. laevis, obtained from the Späth nursery of Berlin as U. effusa, was planted in Kew Gardens (1895), in the Ryston Hall arboretum, Norfolk (1914),[https://web.archive.org/web/20190126101143/http://www.rystonhall.co.uk/ rystonhall.co.uk]{{cite book| title=Ryston Hall Arboretum catalogue |date=c. 1920 |pages=13–14|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ryston_Hall_Arboretum_Catalogue_c._1920_pages_13,14.jpg}} and, re-propagated, in Cambridge University Botanic Garden (1909). Evidently the tree did not gain in popularity, and was overlooked or ignored by most authors of popular guides to trees in Britain during the 20th century, notably Mabey in his Flora Britannica.Books on trees in Britain in the 20th century: Trimble, L. J. F. (1946) Trees in Britain, Macmillan, London. Step, E. (1904). Wayside And Woodland Trees. A Pocket Guide To The British Sylva. Frederick Warne & Co., London. Gurney, R. (1958). Trees of Britain. Faber & Faber, London. Mabey, R. (1998) Flora Britannica. Chatto & Windus, London. {{ISBN|978-0701167318}} The tree is also omitted from Keble-Martin's comprehensive Flora of Devon.Keble-Martin, W., and Fraser, G. (1939). Flora of Devon. Buncle, Arbroath.

It is not known whether U. laevis was introduced to Scotland before the early 20th century. Two of the three specimens supplied by the Späth nursery, Berlin, to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 1902 as U. effusa may survive in Edinburgh, as it was the practice of the garden to distribute trees about the city;{{cite book |date=1902|title=Accessions book|publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh|pages=45, 47|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Botanic_Garden_Edinburgh._(1902)._Accessions_book_pages_45,47.jpg}} the third specimen was in the garden itself.Tree C2711, RBGE Cultivated herbarium accession book, 1958 Melville annotations Other examples can be found in the city, notably in Fettes College grounds opposite Inverleith Allotments, and at the entrance to North Merchiston Cemetery.U. laevis in Edinburgh: East Fettes Avenue [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ulmus_laevis._East_Fettes_Avenue,_Edinburgh.jpg], North Merchiston Cemetery [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ulmus_laevis._North_Merchiston_Cemetery,_Edinburgh.jpg], Leith Links [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ulmus_laevis_(small_leaves)._Seafield_Place,_Leith_Links,_Edinburgh.jpg]. In Wales, two mature trees with numerous seedlings occur in a small wood at Rhydyfelin near Aberystwyth,{{cite journal|last1=Chater|first1=A|last2=Allen|first2=D|last3=Preston|first3=C|last4=Smith|first4=P|title=Flora of Cardiganshire|date=2010|page=385|url=https://www.aber.ac.uk/waxcap/downloads/Chater10-FloraCardiganshire85MB.pdf|access-date=21 June 2021}}{{ISBN|9780956575005}} while another grows at Llandegfan, Anglesey. In Ireland, the tree is represented by a line of four at the Old Rectory, Kells Road, Ardee, County Louth ({{cvt|22|m|disp=or}}, girth {{cvt|3|m|disp=or}}, October 2009),[https://web.archive.org/web/20180928200704/https://treecouncil.ie/treeregisterofireland/494.htm Tree Register of Ireland (Tree Council of Ireland)] and in the Channel Islands, by a clump near the well at La Seigneurie (Le Manoir), Sark.[http://archive.bsbi.org.uk/Wats23p553.pdf Watsonia (2001).  p557]

File:Ulmus laevis at Ugbrooke.jpg|U. laevis, Ugbrooke, Devon, 1908

File:Lewisham Dutch Elm.jpg|U. laevis, Ladywell Fields, Lewisham, London, 2023, locally misidentified as a 'Klemmer' Dutch elmJohnson, O. (2011). Champion Trees of Britain & Ireland, Kew Publishing, Kew, London. {{ISBN|9781842464526}}.

File:Lewisham elm 1.jpg|U. laevis, Ladywell Fields, Lewisham, London, 2018

File:Hebden U. laevis 2.jpg|U. laevis, Hebden, Yorkshire Dales

File:Llandegfan Elm tree.jpg|U. laevis, Llandegfan, Anglesey

File:Sutton Veny elm 3.6.jpg|U. laevis, Sutton Veny, Wiltshire

File:Sutton Veny elm 4.2.jpg|U. laevis, Sutton Veny, Wiltshire

The two largest known trees in Europe are at Gülitz in Germany (3.1 m d.b.h.), and at Komorów in Poland (2.96 m d.b.h. in 2011), known as the Witcher. Other veterans survive at Casteau, Belgium (bole-girth 5.15 m), in Rahnsdorf near Berlin (bole-girth 4.5 m)[https://web.archive.org/web/20031217042502/http://www.bemerkenswerte-baeume.de/baum/baum_portraits/Rahnsdorf_Ulme.html Rahnsdorf_Ulme.html]{{cite web|url=http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/umwelt/stadtgruen/stadtbaeume/de/einzelbaeume/trept_koepe/dorfulme.shtml|title=Einzelbäume in Treptow-Köpenick / Land Berlin|work=Berlin.de|access-date=7 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009143318/http://www.berlin.de/senuvk/umwelt/stadtgruen/stadtbaeume/de/einzelbaeume/trept_koepe/dorfulme.shtml |archive-date=2017-10-09}} and in Ritvala, Finland (bole-girth 4.49 m).{{cite web|url=http://www.monumentaltrees.com/en/fin/pirkanmaa/valkeakoski/4602_oitti/|title=European white elm on the estate Oitti in Ritvala|work=MonumentalTrees.com|access-date=7 February 2017}}

A lane of Ulmus laevis is found at Eibergen, Netherlands (see Gallery below), while a large, mature specimen is found within the Alhambra, Granada.

Ulmus laevis has very occasionally been planted as an ornamental tree in the UK, and even more randomly in countryside hedgerows. The UK Champion is at Ferry Farm, on the banks of the Tamar at Harewood, Cornwall (27 m high, 1.8 m d.b.h. in 1997).{{cite magazine |last= Harris|first=E. M. H |title=Ulmus laevis - European white-elm |url=http://archive.bsbi.org.uk/BSBINews76.pdf#page=57 |magazine=BSBI News |volume=76 |year=1997|pages=58–59 |access-date=25 November 2016}} Other examples are few and far between though sometimes of considerable age, surviving amid diseased native elm in Cornwall at Torpoint,{{cite web|url=http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=13849|title=What types of elms are found in Cornwall?|work=Cornwall.gov.uk|access-date=7 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520132104/http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=13849 |archive-date=2013-05-20}} and Pencalenick (21 m high, d.b.h. 1.75 m),Tree Register of the British Isles. and near Over Wallop in Hampshire (16 m high, d.b.h. 1.3 m 2016)BSBI, (2016). BSBI records for north Hampshire, vc. 12. Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland, Shirehampton, Bristol. The largest-known aggregation in England is the ring of 50 trees planted circa 1950 within a ring of common lime around a former ammunition dump on the elevated chalk of Salisbury Plain at Hexagon Wood, Larkhill, about {{cvt|2|km}} north of Stonehenge.

In the United States, a tree of 31.4 m (103 ft) in height (2015) grows at 3331 NE Hancock Street in Portland, Oregon; its age is not known.{{cite web|url=https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@45.5364502,-122.6301218,3a,75y,61.16h,107.56t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1shg-sFv0hXSDG25oFyXPSuQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656|title=Google Maps|work=Google.co.uk|access-date=7 February 2017}}{{Cite web|url = https://www.portlandoregon.gov/parks/article/479560?|title = Ulmus laevis {{!}} Heritage Trees by Species {{!}} The City of Portland, Oregon| access-date = 27 August 2015 | website =PortlandOregon.gov }}

File:Ulmus laevis JPG1b.jpg|U. laevis, Casteau, Belgium

File:Bole of ancient Ulmus laevis in hedgerow near Over Wallop, England.jpg|Bole of coppiced U. laevis, girth 410 cm, Over Wallop, UK

File:Бял бряст (стар).JPG|Burrs and epicormic shoots on old U. laevis

File:Kopeci szil 2011.11.28..jpg|U. laevis, Căpeni, Romania (2011)

In Finland, young European white elm trees were traditionally grown for the raw material of shaft bows. It's leathery bark was also used in tough bindings.{{cite web |url= http://www.mustila.fi/en/plants/ulmus_laevis_russian_fluttering_or_european_white_elm |title= Ulmus laevis - Russian, fluttering, or European white elm |author= |date= |website= Mustila Arboretum |publisher= |access-date= 2024-07-04 |quote=}}

The density of the timber is significantly lower than that of other European elms. However, owing to its rapid growth, tolerance of soil compaction, air pollution and de-icing salts, the tree has long been used for amenity planting in towns and along roadsides.

U. laevis is easily grown from seed sown on ordinary compost and kept well-watered. However, viability can vary greatly from year to year, while the seed is remarkably short-lived. Germination should occur within one week even without heat, the best seedlings attaining as much as half a metre in their first year.Harris, E. (2017). The European White Elm, Ulmus laevis Pall. Quarterly Journal of Forestry, Vol. 111, No. 4, October 2017.  p.261. Royal Forestry Society. Softwood cuttings taken in June is also a reliable method; the cuttings strike very quickly, well within a fortnight, rapidly producing a dense matrix of roots.

Image:Ulmus laevis seedlings.jpg|U. laevis seedlings

Image:White Elm rooted cutting.jpg|A rooted cutting of European white elm

Several putative varieties have been identified. A var. celtidea from Ukraine was reported by Rogowicz in the middle of the 19th century, but no examples are known to survive. Another, var. parvifolia, has been reported from Serbia.Jovanović, B. & Radulović, S. (1980). Ulmus laevis var. parvifolia. Glasn. Prir. Muz. u Beogradu. (Bulletin of the Natural History Museum, Belgrade). 35 : 32, 38 (1980). Belgrade, Serbia. A third, var. simplicidens, is very rare; the only example known to survive is at the National Botanic Garden of Latvia in Salaspils. Kew had a grafted var. glabra in the early 20th century (provenance unknown),[https://bioportal.naturalis.nl/en/specimen/L.1581966 Herbarium specimen labelled U. pedunculata Foug. var. glabra, Kew; bioportal.naturalis.nl, specimen L.1581966]Ulmus pedunculata (: laevis) var. glabra: Trautvetter; Bulletin de la Classe physico-mathématique de l'Académie impériale des sciences de Saint-Pétersbourg, xv. 349 1857 a clone of which is present at Wakehurst Place.Royal Botanic Gardens Wakehurst Place, U. laevis var. glabra, Acc. no. 1973-21047

Compared with the other European species of elm, U. laevis has received scant horticultural attention, there being only nine recorded cultivars:

{{#section:List of elm cultivars, hybrids and hybrid cultivars|Ulmus_laevis_cultivars}}

In Russia other ornamental forms are recognized: f. argentovariegata, f. rubra, and f. tiliifolia. A pyramidal form was reported in 1888 from the Fredericksfelde cemetery in Berlin by Bolle.{{cite journal |last1=Bolle |first1=C. |title=Ulmus effusa |journal=Garden and Forest |date=1888 |volume=1 |pages=381–382 |url=https://archive.org/stream/gardenforestjour11888sarg#page/381 |publisher=The Garden and Forest Publishing Co. |location=New York}} A line of similar monopodial trees grows (2019) on the island in the Lot at Entraygues, France.

File:Barjols2013 007.jpg|Columnar form, Entraygues, France

U. laevis does not hybridize naturally, in common with the American elm (U. americana) to which it is closely related. However, in experiments at the Arnold Arboretum, it was successfully crossed with U. thomasii and U. pumila; no such crosses have ever been released to commerce.

Image:Stamp 2012 Vjaz hladenkyj.JPG

• Arboretum de La Petite Loiterie,{{cite web|url=https://www.lapetiteloiterie.fr/lpl/presentation/especes/|title=Arboretum de La Petite Loiterie - Un parc pédagogique|work=Free.fr|access-date=29 July 2023}} Monthodon, France. No details available
• Arboretum Freiburg-Günterstal,{{cite web|url=http://www.biologie.uni-ulm.de/extern/guenterstal/ukarbtxt.htm|title=REIBURG-GÜNTERSTAL ARBORETUM at the Municipal Forest District of Freiburg|work=Uni-Ulm.de|access-date=7 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412062909/http://www.biologie.uni-ulm.de/extern/guenterstal/ukarbtxt.htm|archive-date=2021-04-12}} Germany, no details available
• Brighton & Hove City Council, UK, NCCPG Elm Collection. Ten trees at Hove Recreation Ground, Hove.
• Copenhagen University Botanic Garden, Denmark. No details available.
• ELTE Botanic Garden, Budapest, Hungary. Acc. nos. 1998-0718, 1998-0719.
• Grange Farm Arboretum, Sutton St. James, Spalding, Lincolnshire, UK. Acc. no. 502.
• Great Fontley Butterfly Conservation Elm Trials plantation, UK. Two planted 2003, grown from cuttings of specimen at RBG Wakehurst Place.
• Hortus Botanicus Nationalis, Salaspils, Latvia. Acc. nos. 18136, 18140.
• Linnaean Gardens of Uppsala, Sweden. Acc. no. 1930-1014.
• Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, UK. Acc. no. 20070643, from seed wild collected in Val d'Allier, France.
• Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, UK. Acc. nos. 1969-17302, 1973-11712.
• Royal Botanic Gardens, Wakehurst Place, UK. Acc. no. 1973-21048.
• Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, Romsey, Hampshire. UK. Acc. no. 2016.0385
• Tallinn Botanic Garden, Estonia. No accession details available.
• Thenford House arboretum, Northamptonshire, UK. No details available.
• 'The Leys', University Parks, Oxford, UK. Acc. no. 02678.
• Westonbirt Arboretum, UK.{{cite web|url=http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-62qk8w|title=Contact the National Arboreta|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012033321/http://forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-62qk8w |archive-date=October 12, 2007 }} Tetbury, Glos., UK. Acc. no. 1995/322
• Wijdemeren City Council, Netherlands. Elm Collection. Planted 1990 Tjalk, Loosdrecht; 2007 Hinderdam, Nederhorst den Berg; elm lane De Kwakel, Kortenhoef in 2009.

• Arnold Arboretum, US. Acc. nos. 17910, 637-79, 6951, 753-80.
• Brenton Arboretum, Dallas Center, Iowa, US. No details available.
• Brooklyn Botanic Garden,{{cite web|url=http://www.bbg.org/cgi/bgbase/search.cgi|title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden|work=BBG.org|access-date=7 February 2017}} New York City, US. Acc. no. X02589.
• Dominion Arboretum, Canada. No details available
• Longwood Gardens, US. Acc. nos. 1964-0568, 1964-1119.
• Morton Arboretum, Illinois, US. Acc. nos. 1302-27, 446-48, 492-64, 27-98.{{cite web|url=http://www.cirrusimage.com/tree_russian_elm.htm|title=Russian Elm - Ulmus laevis|work=CirrusImage.com|access-date=7 February 2017}}

• Arboretum Waasland, Nieuwkerken-Waas, Belgium{{cite web|url=http://www.arboretum-waasland.be/English.htm|title=English.htm|work=Arboretum-Waasland.be|access-date=7 February 2017}}
• Boomkwekerij Oirschot, Oirschot, Netherlands[http://www.plantago.nl/plantindex/index.htm Plantago - Plantindex] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070729174244/http://www.plantago.nl/plantindex/index.htm |date=2007-07-29 }}
• Landford Trees, Salisbury, UK.[https://landfordtrees.co.uk]
• Lorenz von Ehren, Hamburg, Germany. [https://shop.lve-baumschule.de/laubgehoelze/?p=31]
• Noordplant, Glimmen, Netherlands{{cite web|url=http://www.noordplant.nl|title=Home - Noordplant Kwekerijen - Glimmen|work=Noordplant.nl|access-date=7 February 2017}}
• Pan-Global Plants, Frampton-on-Severn, Gloucestershire, UK{{cite web|url=http://www.panglobalplants.com/|title=Pan-global Plants - Specialist plant nursery in Gloucestershire|work=PanglobalPlants.com|access-date=7 February 2017}}
• UmbraFlor, Spello, Italy{{cite web|url=http://www.umbraflor.it|title=UmbraFlor srl - Azienda vivaistica regionale|work=UmbraFlor.it|access-date=7 February 2017}}
• Van Den Berk (UK) Ltd., [https://www.vdberk.co.uk/trees/?search=ulmus&sort=0&page=2], London, UK

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{{Commons category|Ulmus laevis}}

• [http://www.euforgen.org/species/ulmus-laevis/ Ulmus laevis] - distribution map, genetic conservation units and related resources. European Forest Genetic Resources Programme (EUFORGEN)

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