Ulmus pumila
| Ulmus pumila | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |   |
| Hardiness: | 3 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 49' |
| Width: | 39' |
| Blooms: | Mid Spring |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Ulmus pumila (common name: siberian elm)
Propagation: Seed - if sown in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe, it usually germinates within a few days[1]. Stored seed does not germinate so well and should be sown in early spring[1]. 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[2]. 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[1].
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[4]. Succeeds in a hot dry position[1]. Established plants are drought resistant[5][1]. Fairly wind-tolerant[1].
This species, or at least some of its cultivars[1], is resistant 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[1].
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[1].
Range: E. Asia - China, E. Siberia, Turkestan.
Habitat: Dry sandy or stony soils, pebbles of river valleys, slopes and occasionally on rocks[6].
Edibility: Leaves - raw or cooked[7][8][9]. Used as a potherb[10].
Inner bark - cooked. It can be dried and made into noodles[7][8][9]. The dried inner bark can also be ground into a powder and then used as a thickener in soups or added to cereal flours when making bread etc.
Fruit - raw or cooked[7][8]. Used when immature, it can be made into a sauce and a wine[9]. The fruit is about 10mm in diameter[1].
Medicinal: The leaves are diuretic and febrifuge[10]. They are used as a pot herb and are then said to be antibilious, antidote and lithontripic[10].
The stem bark is demulcent, diuretic, febrifuge and lenitive[10]. It is mixed with oil and vinegar then used as a poultice on abscesses, mastitis and swellings[10].
Usage: A coarse cloth is made from the inner bark[11].
A fairly wind resistant tree, it can be grown as part of a shelterbelt planting[1].
Wood - hard, heavy, tough, difficult to split. Used for agricultural implements, boat making etc[11].
Pollinators: Wind
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Wind: Tolerates strong winds
Seed Ripens: Late Spring
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Links
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ McMillan-Browse, Philip. Hardy Woody Plants from Seed. Grower Books, 1985.
- ↑ Brickell, Christopher. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers. Dorling Kindersley Publishers, 1990.
- ↑ Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ Bean, William. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Murray, 1981.
- ↑ Komarov, Vladimir. Flora of the USSR. Gantner Verlag, 1968.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Duke, James and Edward Ayensu. Medicinal Plants of China. Reference Publications, 1985.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Vines, Robert. Trees of Central Texas. University of Texas Press, 1987.