Ulmus 'Plantyn'

Ulmus hybrid cultivar
'Plantyn', Amsterdam.
Hybrid parentage	('Exoniensis' × U. wallichiana) × (U. minor '1' × U. minor '28')
Cultivar	'Plantyn'
Origin	Wageningen, The Netherlands

Ulmus 'Plantyn' (Anglicized form of 'Plantijn') was one of three Dutch hybrid elms released in 1973. Derived from a crossing of the Dutch hybrids '202' (U. 'Exoniensis' × U. wallichiana) and '302' (U. minor '1' × U. minor '28'), it was to prove of great significance in later developments. A selfed seedling was to become the first Dutch clone to prove effectively immune to disease, released in 1989 as 'Columella'. 'Plantyn' was also destined to be the female parent of Lutèce released in 2002. In Italy, 'Plantyn' was used again as female parent in hybridizations with the Siberian Elm Ulmus pumila by the Istituto per la Protezione delle Piante (IPP), to create three new cultivars better adapted to the Mediterranean climate (see Hybrid cultivars).

'Plantyn' is a fast-growing tree, with upright branching forming a broad crown where grown in isolation. The dark-green leaves are < 10 cm long by 7 cm broad, on < 10 mm petioles.

'Plantyn' is no more resistant to Dutch elm disease than its Dutch contemporaries 'Dodoens' and 'Lobel' according to one source, rating 4 out of 5. However, research published in France by the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) indicated that 'Plantyn' possesses a greater degree of disease resistance than the other two cultivars, although neither had actually been tested by the organization. Nevertheless, INRA still classified 'Plantyn' as only 'moderately resistant'.

Largely superseded by the later generation of cultivars highly resistant to Dutch elm disease, sales in the Netherlands declined from over 7,000 in 1979 to zero in 2004 [1]. Like its Dutch contemporaries, 'Plantyn' has proven very tolerant of sea winds.