Davey Elm

Ulmus × hollandica cultivar
Wind-pruned Davey Elm, Trenance Farm, Cornwall, UK
Hybrid parentage	U. glabra × U. minor 'Stricta'?
Cultivar	'Daveyi'
Origin	England

The Davey Elm, Ulmus × hollandica 'Daveyi', is an English hybrid cultivar of unknown specific origin, generally restricted to the valleys of Cornwall. Its apparent south-west England provenance, along with its foliage and habit, suggest that it may be a hybrid of Wych Elm and Cornish Elm.

The wide-spreading, irregular branches support pendulous branchlets. The leaves are comparatively small, rarely exceeding 6 cm in length by 5 cm wide, with a glabrous upper surface. Photographs often show this tree in its windswept coastal form; inland its shape resembles more closely its putative Wych Elm parent, though with a denser crown.

The tree is susceptible to Dutch elm disease.

A number of mature specimens are known to survive in south-west England, notably around Gulval, Newquay, the Roseland and St Kew in Cornwall. The tree is not known to have been introduced to North America or Australasia, and is not in commerce in the UK.

The UK TROBI Champion grows in woodland behind Lancaster Avenue at Goodrington; when last measured in 2004 it was 22 m high by 100 cm d.b.h.. Other fine specimens can be found at Trenance Farm, St Newlyn East, Newquay.

The Davey Elm was named by Augustine Henry for Frederick Hamilton Davey (1868-1915), Cornish botanist and author of the Flora of Cornwall, first published in 1909 and reprinted in 1978.