The Field Elm cultivar Ulmus minor 'Cretensis' [:from Crete] was first mentioned by Nicholson in Kew Hand-List Trees & Shrubs Vol.2 (1896), as Ulmus campestris var. cretensis, without description. A 1908 herbarium specimen at Kew Gardens with an accompanying description suggests that 'Cretensis' is not synonymous with Ulmus minor var. canescens, also present on Crete.'Canescens' in Crete, in the Apokoronas region: George Sfikas, Trees and shrubs of Greece (Athens, 2nd ed. 2001) p.140'Canescens' in Crete, in the Aghia Irene gorge in the Temenos region: Natural Europe Project, University of Crete, europeana.eu
Description On the Kew Herbarium specimen Augustin Ley added the description: "All parts [of the shoots and upper leaf-surface] very glabrous and smooth; [on the leaf underside] axils and leaf-surface along mid-rib hairy; non glandular".Ulmus campestris var. cretensis herbarium specimen, Kew Gardens, herbariaunited.org specimen 289491 (1908; A. Ley) The specimen shows obovate leaves, 4 to 6 cm long by 3 to 5 wide, with a small tapering tip, biserrate or triserrate margin, and a 5 mm petiole.
Pests and diseases See under Ulmus minor.
Cultivation It is not known whether 'Cretensis' remains in cultivation. An old field elm by the 11th-century Byzantine church of St Nicholas, Kyriakosellia, Apokoronas, western Crete, is in the locality where 'Cretensis' herbarium specimens were collected in the early 20th century, Sheet labelled U. campestris (long-shoot specimen from Apokoronas, Crete, 1915) and outside the small area in central Crete where 'Canescens' has been found. Sfikas (2011), however, refers to 'Canescens' in the Apokoronas area.
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