Ulmus 'Wingham' is a complex hybrid elm cultivar featuring two Asiatic and two European species, bestowing it with an exceptionally high resistance to Dutch elm disease (DED). It was raised as clone no. FL493 by the Istituto per la Protezione delle Piante (IPP) in Florence, but never patented owing to its limited aesthetic appeal. It was introduced to the UK in 2011 by David Herling, Resistant Elms, who trialled it successfully at Wingham in Kent.Herling, D. (2014). Resistant Elms. It was later trialled by Hampshire & Isle of Wight Branch, Butterfly Conservation, as part of an assessment of DED-resistant cultivars as potential hosts of the endangered White-letter Hairstreak.Brookes, A. H. (2020). Disease-resistant elm cultivars. Butterfly Conservation, Lulworth, England. 'Wingham' was released for sale in the UK in 2019.Thomson, T. H. (2019). 'Disease resistant elm'. Gardeners' World Dec. 2019. Immediate Media Co., London.
Description Branching is typically rather irregular and unbalanced, but the foliage strongly resembles that of its ancestor, U. × hollandica ‘Vegeta’, better known as the Huntingdon Elm, the colour ranging from mid-green to a dark malachite. The samarae are generally obovate, typically , the seed central, with relatively long petioles.
Pests and diseases Tested by inoculation with unnaturally high concentrations of the Ophiostoma novo-ulmi pathogen, 'Wingham' displayed an extraordinary resistance ('5 out of 5'), exhibiting defoliation of just 1.44%, with 0% dieback, one of the highest of all the 1000+ clones raised by IPP, Italy.Santini, A., Pecori, F., Pepori, A., & Brookes, A. (2011). 'Morfeo' Elm: a new variety resistant to Dutch elm disease. Forest Pathology, April 2012, Vol. 42, Issue 2, 171–176
Cultivation 'Wingham' has excelled in the UK where planted on fertile alluvium in river valleys, but has struggled on poorer chalk and clay soils, emulating the 'English' Elm U. minor 'Atinia'. At the Castellaccio trials site in Italy, specimens increased in height by up to per annum, with a commensurate increase in bole girth of . Among urban plantings in the UK are two specimens in Regent Road Park, Edinburgh, planted in 2019, and three, planted in 2014, in central Broad Walk, Christ Church Meadow, Oxford. 'A brief guide to Christ Church Meadow', p.9; chch.ox.ac.ukTim Richardson, 'Can we resurrect the English elm?', The Daily Telegraph, 6 March 2021 The clone is not known elsewhere beyond Italy in continental Europe, and has not been introduced to North America or Australasia.
Etymology 'Wingham' is named for the village in Kent where the tree was successfully trialled.
Hybrids 'Wingham', while still unnamed clone FL493,David Herling, 'FL 493', 'Resistant Elms', resistantelms.co.uk was crossed c.2015, as female parent, with old field elms surviving near Tonge Mill, Sittingbourne, Kent.Kentish Elm Conservation Project gallery, resistantelms.co.uk Four inoculated seedlings "proved asymptomatic or had 2% or less of wilting", a result described in 2019 as "significant ... as it means British-bred elm seedlings with very high tolerance or resistance have for the first time been identified". Kew described these clones, propagated and planted on a trial site in Wateringbury, as "promising" (2024).James Tapper, 'The disease-busting hybrids that could bring back the majestic English elm' (narrow-leaved elms of Tonge Mill in hybridisation trials), The Guardian, 14 April 2024
Accessions Europe Grange Farm Arboretum, Sutton St James, Spalding, Lincs., UK. Acc. no. 1260 Icomb Place, Icomb, Gloucestershire, Elm trials, planted 2014 Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Acc. no. 20151813Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Catalogue of the Living Collections, data.rbge.org.uk; Ulmus 'Wingham'. Acc. no. 20180335
Nurseries Frank P. Matthews Ltd., Tenbury Wells, Worcs., UK
References