The hybrid elm cultivarUlmus × hollandica 'Gaujardii', one of a number of cultivars arising from the crossing of Wych ElmU. glabra with Field ElmU. minor, was raised by the Gaujard-Rome nursery of Châteauroux, France, in the 1890s as Ulmus Gaujardii and was described in the 1898 Kew Bulletin and Wiener illustrirte Garten-Zeitung.[1][2] It won first prize in the International Horticultural Exhibition in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in 1899 and a silver medal in the Heemstede Exhibition, The Netherlands, in 1925.[3] From the early 20th century it was distributed by the Späth nursery of Berlin as Ulmus montana Gaujardi,[4] and in the interwar years by the Boccard nursery of Geneva as Ulmus campestris Gaujardi.[5] It appeared in Unsere Freiland-Laubgehölze in 1913, but without description.[6][7]
Description
A tree of symmetrical upright growth and of great vigour, with the appearance of an arrow. The foliage was of medium size, oval and light green.[1][2] Four photographs of 'Gaujardii' appear in Pépinières Gaujard-Rome et Cie (1930), where the nursery distinguished between medium- and large-leaved forms.[3] Herbarium specimens suggest that more than one clone has been labelled 'Gaujardii'.[8][9]
Pests and diseases
Elms of the U. × hollandica group are susceptible to Dutch elm disease.
Cultivation
'Gaujardii' was produced at a rate of 30,000 trees per annum by 1930,[3] though no specimens are known to survive. There was a specimen at Arnold Arboretum, Massachusetts, in the mid-20th century.
Putative specimen
An old U. × hollandica with leaves (unusually for this group) light green all summer and matching the 'Gaujardii' herbarium specimen in The Hague,[9] stands (2019) by 35 Inverleith Terrace, Edinburgh, near the entrance to Royal Botanic Garden.[10] An early 20th century photograph shows it fastigiate when young.[11] Its leaf-shape, samarae, and light suckering confirm its hybridity.
