Ulmus × hollandica 'Dumont'


The hybrid elm cultivar Ulmus × hollandica 'Dumont' was a very vigorous elm raised from a tree discovered by a gardener on the estate of M. Dumont at Tournay, Belgium, c. 1865.

Description

The tree had a straight trunk and a narrow regular, pyramidal crown, Elwes likening it to Wheatley Elm in habit. The leaves were somewhat smaller than those of 'Belgica'.

Pests and diseases

'Dumont' was very susceptible to Dutch elm disease.

Cultivation

No specimens are known to survive. The tree was once a popular choice for street planting in Belgium and France, notably at Ypres, where Henry collected a specimen for Kew Gardens in 1912, and at Versailles, where it was supplied by Moser's nursery and planted in "peculiar clipped avenues". Early 20th-century photographs of the Place Barascude and Avenue Thiers, Versailles, show Wheatley-like elms, some clipped, and pruned avenues by Moser's nursery. An U. campestris Dumont, "a vigorous grower" with "large leaves", appeared in the 1909 catalogue of the Bobbink and Atkins nursery, Rutherford, New Jersey. The Hesse Nursery of Weener, Germany, marketed an Ulmus latifolia Dumont in the 1930s.

Synonymy