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Ulmus parvifolia

Common name:	Chinese Elm	Family:	Ulmaceae
Author:	Jacq.	Botanical references:	11, 200, 266
Synonyms:	Ulmus chinensis (Pers.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	E. Asia - China, Japan, Korea.
Habitat:	Rich soil and near water courses in W. China[109] at elevations below 800 metres[266]..
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	U. sieboldii[G]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Chinese Elm [H,B,P,DEN1], Lacebark Elm [H], Lang Yu [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	parvifolia = small leaved;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Urticales. Elm family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	China
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: USA Invasive.

Physical Characteristics

A decidious tree growing to 18m by 18m at a medium rate. It is hardy to zone 5 and is not frost tender. It is in leaf from March to January, in flower from September to October, and the seeds ripen from October to November. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Wind. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil. The plant can tolerate maritime exposure.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Canopy.

Edible Uses

Fruit; Inner bark; Leaves.

Leaves - raw or cooked[105, 177].
Immature fruits, used just after they are formed - raw or cooked[105, 132]. An aromatic, unusual flavour, leaving the mouth feeling fresh and the breath smelling pleasant[132]. It contains about 34.4% protein, 28.2% fat, 17% carbohydrate, 5% ash[132].
Inner bark - cooked. A mucilaginous texture[105, 177]. No more details are given but inner bark is often dried, ground into a powder and then used as a thickening in soups etc or mixed with cereals when making bread[K].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antidote; Demulcent; Diuretic; Expectorant; Febrifuge; Hypnotic; Lithontripic.

The leaves are antidote and lithontripic[218].
The stem bark is demulcent, diuretic, expectorant, febrifuge, hypnotic and lithontripic[178, 218].
The flowers are used in the treatment of fevers and neuritis[218].

Other Uses

Shelterbelt; Wood.

Fairly resistant to maritime exposure, it can be grown in a shelter belt[K].

Cultivation details

Easily grown in any soil of at least moderate quality so long as it is well drained[1]. Fairly tolerant of maritime exposure, it succeeds outdoors in a very exposed position at Rosewarne in N. &ndndndnd[K].
Resistant to 'Dutch elm disease', a disease that has destroyed the greater part of all the elm trees growing in Britain. The disease is spread by a beetle. There is no effective cure (1992) for the problem, but most E. Asian, though not Himalayan, species are resistant (though not immune) to the disease so the potential exists to use these resistant species to develop new resistant hybrids with the native species[200].
The various species hybridize freely, the pollen stores well and can be kept for use with species that flower at different times[200].
Trees retain their leaves until early in the new year[11] and in areas with mild winters will often retain them until new leaves are formed in the spring[188].
A good companion for grapes[18].
There are some named forms, developed for their ornamental value. 'Frosty' and 'Geisha' are small bushes whilst 'Pumila' is a minute bush for the rock garden.

Propagation

Seed - if sown in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe, it usually germinates within a few days[200]. Stored seed does not germinate so well and should be sown in early spring[200]. One to two months stratification can improve germination rates. The seed can also be harvested 'green' (when it has fully developed but before it dries on the tree) and sown immediately in a cold frame. It should germinate very quickly and will produce a larger plant by the end of the growing season[80]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Plants should not be allowed to grow for more than two years in a nursery bed since they form a tap root and will then move badly.
Layering of suckers or coppiced shoots[200].

Cultivars

'': There are some named forms for this species, but these have been developed for their ornamental value and not for their other uses. Unless you particularly require the special characteristics of any of these cultivars, we would generally recommend that you grow the natural species for its useful properties. We have, therefore, not listed the cultivars in this database[K].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database
[DEN] Data _ Photos (Good Identification info) from the Virginia Tech's Dendrology Deptarments' Tree Fact Sheets.

References for Ulmus chinensis (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database

References for the family Ulmaceae.

[CHINA] Draft Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[18] Philbrick H. and Gregg R. B. Companion Plants. Watkins 1979
Details of beneficial and antagonistic relationships between neighbouring plants.

[80] McMillan-Browse. P. Hardy Woody Plants from Seed. Grower Books 1985 ISBN 0-901361-21-6
Does not deal with many species but it is very comprehensive on those that it does cover. Not for casual reading.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[109] Wilson. E. H. Plantae Wilsonae.
Details of the palnts collected by the plant collector E. H. Wilson on his travels in China. Gives some habitats. Not for the casual reader.

[132] Bianchini. F., Corbetta. F. and Pistoia. M. Fruits of the Earth.
Lovely pictures, a very readable book.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[178] Stuart. Rev. G. A. Chinese Materia Medica. Taipei. Southern Materials Centre
A translation of an ancient Chinese herbal. Fascinating.

[188] Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.

[266] Flora of China 1994
On-line version of the Flora - an excellent resource giving basic info on habitat and some uses.

Readers Comments

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Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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