The American elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'Markham' was cloned in Avon, New York before 1950 from "an outstanding tree", now long dead, growing naturally on what had been the Markham estate two miles north of Avon since 1794.
Description The original tree was of great size, and possessed an extremely weeping branching habit.Peattie, D. C. (1950). A Natural History of Trees of Eastern and Central North America, p. 240. Houghton Mifflin Company (HMCo) Field Guides, Boston, MA. It was partly destroyed by fire in the mid-19th century and by a storm in 1893. In 1913 its hollow trunk had a bole-girth of 45 feet and was estimated to be at least 400 years old.'A giant elm', Horticulture 15 March 1913, Vol.17 Issue 11; p.375 "Still, the veteran elm had not lost its vitality," wrote Katharine Stanley Nicholson in her Historic American trees (1922). "In the spring of 1920, after bursting into leaf, and then losing every one through an onslaught of canker worms, it rallied bravely and in a few weeks was once more in full foliage."Nicholson, Katharine Stanley, Historic American trees (NY, 1922); p.42
Cultivation It is not known whether 'Markham' remains in cultivation in North America or beyond.
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