Cultivar 'Louis van Houtte' | Origin Belgium | |
Similar Ulmus minor 'Purpurascens', Ulmus 'Recerta', Ulmus minor 'Schuurhoek', Ulmus minor 'Propendens', Ulmus minor 'Pendula' | ||
Ulmus 'Louis van Houtte' (Syn. Ulmus 'Vanhouttei') is believed to have been first cultivated in Ghent, Belgium circa 1863. It was once thought a cultivar of English Elm Ulmus minor 'Atinia', though this derivation has long been questioned; W. J. Bean called it "an elm of uncertain status". It was first mentioned by Franz Deegen in 1886. Its dissimilarity from the type and its Belgian provenance make the 'Atinia' attribution unlikely. The cultivar is named for the Belgian horticulturist and plant collector Louis Benoit van Houtte, 1810–1876.
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Description
When young, the tree has leaves entirely yellow, a colour retained throughout summer. However, as the tree ages, the colouring may begin a gradual reversion to green. The vertically fissured bark of mature trees is unlike that of English elm, with its squarish scaly fissuring. 'Louis van Houtte' has smaller leaves than the not dissimilar Ulmus glabra 'Lutescens' (Golden Wych Elm).
Pests and diseases
'Louis van Houtte' is vulnerable to Dutch elm disease (DED). A specimen at the Ryston Hall arboretum [3], Norfolk, obtained from the Späth nursery in Berlin before 1914, was killed by the earlier strain of DED prevalent in the 1930s, and two specimens planted at Kew Gardens in the Pagoda Vista succumbed very rapidly to the same fate in 1931. A mature specimen, which retained its yellow colouration in the crown, survived in Edinburgh's Royal Circus Gardens, before succumbing to the new strain of DED in the 1990s.
Cultivation
Before Dutch elm disease the tree was commonly cultivated in northern Europe, and less commonly in Australasia, where the golden wych elm Ulmus glabra 'Lutescens' has sometimes been mistakenly sold by nurseries under the name 'Louis van Houtte'. Two trees are known in the British Isles. The cultivar remains in commerce at a nursery in the USA.
Notable trees
Several large trees survive in Sweden, including an old specimen in Kristianstad. Several old trees survive in Australasia, including a specimen in Christchurch Botanic Gardens, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Synonymy
North America
None known.