The English Elm [Ulmus procera] was brought to England in the Iron Age as a few trees of a local form now unknown elsewhere. The rounded dark leaves are rough on the upper surface. Small dark red flowers open in February but rarely yield good seed and the tree spreads by root suckers alone.

Edited from page 55 [referring to the page 54 image] in the ‘Collins Handguide to the Trees of Britain and Northern Europe’, with text by Alan Mitchell and illustrations painted by John Wilkinson © 1978

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The English Elm Ulmus procera [lofty] is, despite the name, thought to have been brought here by early tribes from Southern Europe who valued its strong and extensive suckering for marking boundaries and its foliage for cattle fodder.

It very rarely produces good seeds and the trees, which were the great feature of many broad vales, derived from one or two individuals. Hence there is little variation among them and they all succumb easily to Elm Disease. It differs from smooth-leaved Elms in having harsh upper leaf-surfaces and has a unique outline of crown.

Edited from page 155 of ‘The Trees of Britain and Northern Europe’, also written and illustrated by Alan Mitchell and John Wilkinson © 1982

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The Featured Image was rendered in Oil Pastels on heavy-duty Black Card in 1984 and is my version of the English Elm painted by John Wilkinson on page 54 of the Collins Handguide to the Trees of Britain and Northern Europe.

I have set a slideshow with the source details for the images and text.

Compiled and Edited by Dave Draper July 2014