Ulmus 'Gallica'

Ulmus 'Gallica'
L'Avenue de Sceaux and the Caserne du Génie, Versailles
Genus	Ulmus
Cultivar	'Gallica'
Origin	France

The elm cultivar Ulmus 'Gallica' (Chev.) was described as U. gallica by Auguste Chevalier in 'Les Ormes de France' (1942).^[1] A probable hybrid by its suckering habit, it was said to be an elm of central and north-west France and the Paris area. The type tree was said by Déséglise to be seen in Bourges.

A medium-sized suckering elm, not dome-shaped, with upright semi-fastigiate, spreading branching. Leaves largish, oval-elliptic (12–15 cm x 6–9 cm), leathery, asymmetric at base, abruptly acuminated, deep-toothed below the apex, sometimes tricuspidate, with short white-downy petioles.^[2] Large samara (up to 2.3 x 1.8 cm); seed central.

Chevalier noted that the tree was sometimes planted in avenues, including the Avenue de Sceaux at Versailles.^[3] The large-leaved elms of the Boulevard Saint-Michel, Paris, praised by William Robinson in his Parks and Gardens of Paris (1883), match the description of Chevalier's 'Gallica'.^[4]

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  Elm avenue, Boulevard Saint-Michel, Paris, late 19th century
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  Elm avenue, Boulevard Saint-Michel, Paris, early 20th century