© 1985 by Institute of Chartered Foresters
The elms of Wales
Department of Applied Biology Cambridge
Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Merlewood Research Station Grange over Sands, Cumbria
Two methods of biometrical analysis were used to characterize a collection of 178 leaf samples assembled in the course of an all-Wales survey of elms made in 1977–78. All samples were referable to either U. glabra, U. minor var. minor, U. minor var. vulgaris (= U. procera)orU. x hollandica. The variation within each taxon is described. Elm regions are demarcated to supplement those already described for England. U. glabra is the only elm believed to-be native. It is thought most likely that the main Welsh population of U. minor var. vulgaris, in Glamorgan, was introduced from Somerset some time before the Norman Conquest. U. minor var. minor is rare throughout Wales and could be of 18th century origin; its possible spread along drovers' routes is considered. Some notomorphs of U. x hollandica must have been introduced as such. Others probably arose in Wales from hybridization involving U. glabra, U. minor var. vulgaris and U.x hollandica var. hollandica.