Ulmus × hollandica 'Major'

In areas unaffected by Dutch elm disease, 'Major' often attains a height of > 30 m, with a short bole and irregular, wide-spreading branches. In open-grown specimens, the canopy is less dense than that of the English elm or Wych elm. The bark of the trunk is dark and deeply fissured and, like English elm, forms irregular 'plates' in mature specimens, serving to distinguish it from the Huntingdon Elm (latticed bark), the other commonly planted U. × hollandica in the UK. The leaves are oval, File:RN Ulmus hollandica Major, corky wings.JPG|Corky wings on epicormic branchlets File:Ulmus x hollandica 'Major' bark and corky bole-shoots. Royal Circus, Edinburgh.jpg|'Major' bark and corky bole-shoots File:RN Ulmus hollandica Major leaves.JPG|'Major' leaves showing tapering apices File:Leaves of Ulmus x hollandica 'Major'.jpg|Pressed 'Major' leaves, August File:Ulmus x hollandica 'Major' samarae.jpg|'Major' samarae File:MC - Ulmus x hollandica 'Major'. East Baldwin Valley, Isle of Man.jpg|'Major' forming hedgerows, Isle of Man ==Pests and diseases==

Ulmus × hollandica 'Major' is very susceptible to Dutch elm disease. ==Cultivation==

The ‘Dutch’ elm quickly became popular in eighteenth-century estate plantations in England, survivors today being naturalised relics of this planting fashion; but the tree was always rare in the Netherlands, where from the eighteenth century hollandse iep (Holland elm) meant the widely planted hybrid Ulmus × hollandica Belgica (Belgian Elm). and East Anglia. 'Major' was introduced to Ireland, where the largest specimens were at Marlfield, County Tipperary, It was also the predominant elm in Phoenix Park, Dublin. Warsaw, and may still survive in Eastern Europe. In 1963 Heybroek reported 'Major' present in Gottorf Castle in Schleswig, speculating that the specimen may have been regrowth or repropagation from elms known to have been introduced to the city in the late 17th century by the castle's Dutch gardener. Ulmus suberosa major, 'The Dutch cork-barked elm', was in US nurseries by the mid-19th century. Arnold Arboretum reported in 1915 that in the USA (as in the UK by the 20th century), 'Major' was sometimes confused with English Elm. 'Major' is grown at several arboreta and along the streets of Portland, Oregon. The cultivar is also grown in parks and avenues in Australia, notably in Melbourne, and in New Zealand. File:Kensington Gardens, the fountains, London, England-LCCN2002696940.tif|Dutch Elms, Kensington Gardens, London, c.1890 File:Phoenix Park, Dublin. County Dublin, Ireland-LCCN2002717400.jpg|Dutch Elms, Phoenix Park, Dublin, c.1890 File:RN Ulmus hollandica 'Major' (Brighton).JPG|'Major', Withdean Court Road, Brighton; denser form the result of pruning File:Ulmus x hollandica 'Major'. Royal Circus, New Town, Edinburgh (1).jpg|'Major', fan-headed after pollarding, Royal Circus, Edinburgh File:MC - Ulmus x hollandica 'Major'. Ballachrink, Isle of Man.jpg|'Major', Isle of Man, May 2007 File:MC - Ulmus x hollandica 'Major'. West Nappin, Isle of Man.jpg|'Major' as a windbreak elm, Isle of Man ==Notable trees==

Owing to Dutch elm disease, mature trees are rare in the UK, except in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex; The Level, in Brighton, alone has over 80 specimens in a double avenue. Other examples, including the TROBI Champion (27 m high by 139 cm d.b.h. in 2009, after pollarding) can be seen in the city along the London Road. The specimen at Leeds Castle was, at 38 m, the tallest elm surviving in Britain until it blew down in 2000. There are also good examples in Edinburgh along Fettes Row, and one at the intersection of Royal Circus and Circus Place (bole-girth 2.5 m), while a single mature 'Major' survives at the extreme east end of East Princes Street Gardens (2025). A 2011 study by Dr Max Coleman of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, has confirmed that many thousands of mature 'Major' survive in the Isle of Man. Many old trees survive (2018) in New Zealand, notably in Auckland, the finest considered to be the specimen found outside the Ellerslie Racecourse. File:Ulmus hollandica.jpg|'Major', Botanical Gardens, Christchurch, NZ (2004) File:Princes Street (5171821347).jpg|Old 'Major', tallest tree near Scott Monument, Edinburgh, showing autumn colour (2010) ==Synonymy==

• Ulmus × hollandica 'Hollandica': Richens • Ulmus montana (: glabra) var. gigantea Hort.: Kirchner in Petzold [http://kiki.huh.harvard.edu/databases/botanist_search.php?id=2792 & Kirchner, Arboretum Muscaviense 564, 1864 • ?Ulmus montana (: glabra) var. macrophylla fastigiata Hort.: Nicholson, Kew Hand-List Trees & Shrubs, 2: 141, 1896 • ?Ulmus × hollandica Ypreau: Richens ==In art==

The open, irregular branching of 'Major' appears in Constable's ''Salisbury Cathedral from the bishop's grounds'' (1823), and in G. N. Wright's Wellington Monument, Phoenix Park (c.1830) (see 'Cultivation'). The elm grove in Kensington Gardens, London, said by Elwes to have been 'Major', by Seymour Haden in his etching Kensington Gardens (1860). The more regular canopy sometimes found in 'Major' appears in a botanical drawing in Loudon's Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum (1854). File:John Constable - Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds.jpg|Dutch Elm, ''Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's grounds'' (1823) File:Wellington Testimonial, 1830 v3.jpg|Dutch Elm by the Wellington Monument, Phoenix Park, Dublin, by G. N. Wright (c.1830) File:Kensington Gardens (The Larger Plate), Francis Seymour Haden.jpg|Dutch Elm grove, Kensington Gardens, etching by Seymour Haden (1860) File:Ulmus major. The greater or Dutch cork-barked, Elm. p.237.jpg|'Ulmus major, the greater or Dutch cork-barked elm', Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum (1854) ==Cultivars==

• 'Eleganto-Variegata' ==Accessions==

North America • Arnold Arboretum, US. Acc. no. 241-98, from cultivated material. • Longwood Gardens, US. Acc. no. L-0600, unrecorded provenance. • Morton Arboretum, US. Acc. nos. 1114-25, 338-46. Europe • Brighton & Hove City Council, UK. NCCPG Elm Collection. Over 1000 specimens, inc. TROBI champion. . • Grange Farm Arboretum, Sutton St James, Spalding, Lincolnshire, UK. Acc. no. 1099. • Royal Botanic Gardens Wakehurst Place, UK. Acc. no. 1973-20146. Australasia • Avenue of Honour, Ballarat, Australia. As 'Hollandica'. • Avenue of Honour, Bacchus Marsh, Australia. • Christchurch Botanic Gardens, Christchurch, New Zealand. Details not known. • Eastwoodhill Arboretum [https://web.archive.org/web/20080311122431/http://www.eastwoodhill.org.nz/gardens--collection/collection.aspx?Type=&G=Ulmus, Gisborne, New Zealand. 10 trees, details not known. ==Nurseries==

Australasia • Established Tree Planters Pty. Ltd., Wandin, Victoria, Australia. ==References==