The Siberian Elm cultivar Ulmus pumila 'Pendula' is from northern China, where it is known as Lung chao yü shu (: Dragon's-claw elm). It was classified by Frank Meyer in Fengtai in 1908, and introduced to the United States by him from the Peking Botanical Garden as Weeping Chinese elm. The USDA plant inventory record (1916) noted that it was a "rare variety even in China".Variety Conservation Group, 'Missing or confused cultivars' It was confirmed as an U. pumila cultivar by Krüssmann (1962).Krüssmann, J. G., Handbuch der Laubgehölze 2: 540. 1962.
Late 19th-century herbarium leaf-specimens suggest that the epithet 'Pendula' has been attached to more than one form of Siberian elm.
Not to be confused with the smaller Siberian elm cultivar Ulmus pumila 'Dwarf Weeper'.
The name 'Weeping Chinese elm' is now sometimes used for Ulmus parvifolia 'Sempervirens', a cultivar of the true Chinese elm.
Description Green described 'Pumila' as having pendulous branches bearing small leaves with equal teeth. Frank Meyer's clone from China is a straggling, asymmetrical tree with twisting, often level boughs and occasional tangled branch-ends, and with long pendulous pinnate branchlets, like stouter versions of 'Pinnato-ramosa'. The latter appear in Meyer's 1913 photograph of a specimen in the Peking Botanic Garden. The tree is smaller than 'Pinnato-ramosa' and does not grow to large dimensions.
Pests and diseases See under Ulmus pumila.
Cultivation Meyer's elm is still cultivated in China, where its asymmetrical, contorted habit is clear even in young specimens.Ulmus pumila 'Pendula' in China, zhiwutong.com Other Ulmus pumila 'Pendula' in China, zhiwutong.com It is more rarely cultivated in Europe and North America; it is said to have been "widely distributed" in the northwestern States. The USDA noted (1916) that it "shows up particularly well when planted on embankments alongside water expanses". The tree probably survives in the Longenecker Horticultural Gardens, University of Wisconsin; however, all the specimens grown at the Morton Arboretum, Illinois, obtained in the 1950s had either died or been felled by 2008 because of their poor condition.
Standards supplied in the West today as U. pumila 'Pendula' appear to be a more symmetrical and neatly shaped clone than Meyer's.'Weeping Siberian Elm', plants.gardensupplyco.com A specimen stands (2025) near the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.Mark Seddon and David Shreeve, Great British Elms (Kew Gardens, 2024), p.162-3
'Pendula'-like cultivars In the mid 20th century, Belmonte Arboretum Wageningen had an elm labelled U. pumila 'Pendula'. By 1962 it had been relabelled "Siberian elm cultivar, formerly registered as U. pumila 'Pendula' ", suggesting doubts about the identification. Formerly labelled U. pumila 'Pendula' (Wageningen Arboretum, 1962); Formerly labelled U. pumila 'Pendula' (Wageningen Arboretum, 1962) Old examples of what appears to be the same cultivar, with Belmonte-type leaves, survive in Edinburgh (2025). The largest (height 12 m, girth over 2 m), was planted on the Granton Road railway station cutting, and now overlooks Ferry Road Path, between 7 and 9 Rosebank Rd. There are trees of the same type opposite, on the other side of the former station. Two others stand at the intersection of Royal Crescent and Dundonald St and at 47 York Rd (formerly Trinity railway station). The USDA (1916) recommended the cultivar for planting on bank tops, where its silhouette could best be appreciated;Variety Conservation Group, 'Missing or confused cultivars' most of the Edinburgh specimens have been planted in such locations. (A 1940 herbarium specimen labelled U. pumila 'Pendula' from Zuiderpark, The Hague, is similar to the Wageningen and Edinburgh leaves. Sheet labelled U. pumila L. 'Pendula'; specimen in Zuiderpark, The Hague, 1940) Since their tangled and pendulous branching resembles Meyer's 1908 photograph of a mature specimen in Fengtai,Google Maps: Rosebank Rd elm, May 2014, before loss of lateral branch - Google Maps, accessdate: August 30, 2016 they may be the cultivar Meyer introduced to the West as U. pumila 'Pendula', though neither fruit nor leaf is typical of U. pumila.Information from dendrologist Sir Owen Johnson, 2025
Accessions Europe Grange Farm Arboretum, Lincolnshire, UK. Acc. no. 1143. Synonymy Ulmus campestris (: minor) pendula. Ulmus sibirica Hort.. Ulmus pumila Linn. cv. 'Pendula' Kirchner.
Nurseries Europe Plantenmarkt Boskoop, 3755 MX Eemnes, Netherlands
References
External links Photographs labelled U. pumila 'Pendula' on Plant Photo Bank of China, ppbc.iplant Photographs labelled U. pumila 'Tenue', a narrow-leaved pendulous U. pumila cultivar in China, on Plant Photo Bank of China, ppbc.iplant