Ulmus glabra 'Lutescens'

A medium-sized, fast-growing deciduous tree that reaches a height of approximately 15 m with a spread of about 20 m. In its first years, the tree is vase-shaped, but spreads as it matures to form a rounded canopy. The hue of the leaves varies according to light intensity: where exposed to full sunlight the leaves are bright yellow, but in shade no more than a lime green. 'Lutescens' is arguably the best of the golden elm cultivars since it keeps its colour as it ages.

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  'Lutescens', Hillier Arboretum (August 2007)
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  'Lutescens' leaves
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  Dried long-shoot leaves of young 'Lutescens' (August)
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  Bole

The cultivar is not known to be any less susceptible to Dutch elm disease than the species. It is highly susceptible to the elm leaf beetle Xanthogaleruca luteola.[5]

'Lutescens' was once commonly planted in the UK, and remains in cultivation there and in Europe. It was marketed in the late 19th century as U. montana lutescens by the Späth nursery of Berlin[6] and by the Ulrich nursery of Warsaw,[7] whence it was introduced to Eastern Europe, where it may still survive. It was introduced to the Dominion Arboretum, Ottawa, Canada, probably from Späth, in 1897, as U. montana lutescens.[8] Introduced to Australia and New Zealand[9] in the early 1900s (it has been widely planted in south-east Australia),[10] it remains in cultivation in those countries as Golden Elm,[11] often being grafted on to Ulmus parvifolia rootstock.[9] In Australasia 'Lutescens' has sometimes been mistakenly sold by nurseries under the name 'Louis van Houtte', a smaller-leaved golden elm.[12]

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  'Lutescens' in Redwood Park, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada (2014)
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  A young Golden Elm, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
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  Golden Elms, Cathedral Square, Christchurch, New Zealand

There are two notable TROBI Champion trees in England, at Pickering Park, Anlaby, measuring 16 m high by 79 cm d.b.h. in 2004, and in Dyke Road Place, Brighton, 16 m high by 76 cm d.b.h. in 2006.[13] A fine old specimen stands close to Kruispunt Europaweg-Kerkenweg, Nieuw Schoonebeek, Drenthe, Netherlands.[14] In Australia notable specimens grow in Williamstown Botanic Gardens, Williamstown, Victoria,[15][16] in Howard Vineyard, Nairne, South Australia,[17][18] and at 'Poacher's Pantry', Hall, Canberra,[19][20] and there is a mature tree in the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, Hobart.[21][22]

• Ulmus americana aurea: Calmphtout Nursery, Belgium, in error.[2][3]
• Ulmus campestris lutescens: Dieck, (Zöschen, Germany), Haupt-catalog der Obst- und gehölzbaumschulen des ritterguts Zöschen bei Merseburg 1885, p. 81.
• Ulmus campestris 'Lutescens': Boom, Nederlandse Dendrologie 1: 157, 1959.

• Ulmus scabra f. lutescens Dipp..[23]
• Ulmus macrophylla aurea: Kelsey's of N.Y., 1904 cat.[24]
• Ulmus glabra latifolia aurea Schelle[25][26]

• "Herbarium specimen - WAG.1846660". Botany catalogues. Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Sheet labelled U. glabra Huds. 'Lutescens', Wageningen (1962) [specimen 1]
• "Herbarium specimen - WAG.1846659". Botany catalogues. Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Sheet labelled U. glabra Huds. 'Lutescens', Wageningen (1962) [specimen 2]
• "Herbarium specimen - E00824860". Herbarium Catalogue. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Sheet described as U. montana lutescens, RBGE specimen from Späth nursery (1902; juvenile leaves)