Ulmus 'Densa'

Ulmus 'Densa'
'Densa'
Genus	Ulmus
Cultivar	'Densa'
Origin	C. Asia

The elm cultivar Ulmus Densa was described from specimens growing near Ashkabad as U. densa Litv. in Schedae ad Herbarium Florae Rossicae (1908).^[1] Litvinov, reporting it growing wild in the mountains of Turkestan, Ferghana, and Aksu, as well as in cultivation, considered it a species, a view upheld by the Soviet publications Trees and Shrubs in the USSR (1951)^[2] and Flora of Armenia (1962),^[3] and by some current plant lists.^{[4][5][note 1]} Other authorities take it to be a form of U minor, distinctive only in its dense crown and upright branching.^[6][7][8] The Moscow State University herbarium gives (2020) Ulmus minor as the "accepted name" of U. densa Litv..^[9][10]

Litvinov considered U. minor 'Umbraculifera', with its "denser crown and more rounded form", a cultivar of U. densa,^[6] calling it U. densa var. bubyriana. Rehder (1949) and Green (1964), ignoring reports of the wild form, considered U. densa a synonym of 'Umbraculifera'.^[11][12] The U. densa photographed by Meyer in Aksu, Chinese Turkestan on his 1911-12 expedition does not appear to be the tidy grafted cultivar 'Umbraculifera' and was said to be named 'Seda'.^[13][14] Zielińksi in Flora Iranica (1979) considered 'Umbraculifera' an U. minor cultivar.^[15]

In its natural range U. densa overlaps with U. pumila. The extent of hybridization between the two is not known.

Litvinov noted that the tree "differed little from U. glabra Mill." [:U. minor]^[16] except in its erect branches and dense oblong crown.^[17] The leaves were "generally smaller" ^[18] and the branches "smooth and lighter in colour". As with the hybrid U. × androssowii, its compact branch structure helps the tree conserve moisture.^[19]

Not known.

Litvinov said that U. densa was "widely cultivated" in gardens in Turkestan. It is one of a number of elms known locally as 'karagach' or 'karagatch' [:'black tree' = elm].^[20][21][22] In western Europe U. densa Litv. was distributed by Hesse's Nurseries, Weener, Germany, in the 1930s.^[23]

• 
  Dense-branched elm, upright form, Turkestan, c.1900
• 
  Dense-branched elm, spreading form, Turkestan, c.1900
• 
  Dense-branched elm (left), Turkestan, c.1912
• 
  Ulmus densa in Urumqi Botanical Garden, Xinjiang, China (2021)

A large, well-grown specimen stands in Dushanbe Botanic Gardens, Tajikistan (2019).^[24][25]

These include one of the oldest of elm cultivars, 'Umbraculifera', and a number of elms introduced to the West by the Späth nursery of Berlin.

• U. minor 'Umbraculifera', (?) U. minor 'Rueppellii', (?) U. 'Globosa', (?) U.' 'Koopmannii'

Meyer (1912) identified three cultivars of U. densa: 'Stamboul', 'Kitaisky' and 'Seda'.^[26][14]

The tree, or its cultivar form 'Umbraculifera', has hybridised with U. pumila to produce U. × androssowii.

None known.

• efloras.org: U. densa Litv. illustrations (figures 10 to 14)
• Photographs labelled U. densa on Plant Photo Bank of China, ppbc.iplant