Hybrid parentage U. glabra × U. minor Origin Europe | Cultivar 'Modiolina' | |
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The elm cultivar Ulmus 'Modiolina', or Wheel-nave elm, was first described by Dumont de Courset in 1802, as U. campestris var. modiolina, "l'orme tortillard" (:twisty elm). "L'orme tortillard" itself had first been described by Duhamel in 1764. Poederlé (1774) identified the tree as the 'orme maigre' growing in the region that later became part of Belgium. Browne (1851) and Elwes and Henry (1913) regarded 'Modiolina' as synonymous with Loddiges' and Loudon's U. tortuosa but not with U. tortuosa (). Van Houtte marketed an U. campestris modiolina (tortuosa), and Späth an U. campestris modiolina.
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A second cultivar was distinguished as a hybrid by Chevalier in Les Ormes de France (1942) and called U. × 'Modiolina', "l'orme à moyeux".
The cultivar Ulmus × hollandica 'Modiolina' grown at Kew was identified by Melville as U. × hollandica.
Description
"L'orme tortillard" was said to have crowded and twisted branches, small leaves and a pyramidal form. When old, a number of knots or 'bosses' appeared on the bark. The tree produced few seeds, and in some years none at all. Duhamel noted that "l'orme Tortillard" 'has the most useful wood of all the elms, and also has fine foliage', adding that it is 'easily raised from seed, grafts, or layers'.
"L'orme à moyeux" (:wheel-naves elm) was said to resemble English Elm in form, to be from 20 metres (66 ft) to 25 metres (82 ft) in height, and to have doubly serrated smooth leaves of a dull green measuring up to 11 centimetres (4.3 in) by 6 centimetres (2.4 in) wide with a petiole of 5 millimetres (0.20 in) to 6 millimetres (0.24 in).
Pests and diseases
A specimen at the Ryston Hall [1], Norfolk, arboretum, obtained from the Späth nursery in Berlin before 1914, was killed by the earlier strain of Dutch elm disease in the 1930s.
Etymology
'Modiolina' comes from the Latin modiolus, the nave of a wheel (see Cultivation).
Cultivation
"L'orme Tortillard" was particularly abundant along the road from Paris to Meaux. "L'orme Tortillard" and "l'orme à moyeux" have been considered in France to be the best of the elms for use by wheelwrights, their timber especially suitable for hubs of wheels. Specimens obtained by Swingle in France and sent to the USA in 1898 were described as having "large" leaves One tree was planted in 1899 at the Dominion Arboretum, Ottowa, Canada.
No specimens are known to survive.