Ulmus 'Morton Red Tip'


Ulmus 'Morton Red Tip' is a hybrid cultivar raised by the Morton Arboretum from an open pollination of Ulmus 'Morton'. The tree has occasionally been reported as a hybrid of with the Siberian Elm Ulmus pumila, an error probably owing to the commercial propagation of the tree by grafting onto U. pumila rootstocks.
Tested in the US National Elm Trial coordinated by Colorado State University, averaged a survival rate of 77.5% after 10 years.

Description

has a graceful, vase-shaped habit resembling the American elm Ulmus americana with foliage tinged red on emergence.

Pests and diseases

Although resistant to Dutch elm disease in the US, is very susceptible to the elm leaf beetle Xanthogaleruca luteola, Japanese beetle, and Gypsy moth; it is also moderately preferred by cankerworms.

Cultivation

is very cold hardy; in artificial freezing tests at the arboretum the LT50 was found to be −31 °C. However, the tree is notorious for its stem breakage owing to narrow crotch angles and included bark; in trials at the University of Minnesota it had the unhappy distinction of being the worst of 17 cultivars for breakage. The tree is currently being evaluated in the National Elm Trial coordinated by Colorado State University.
is being promoted by the Chicagoland Grows corporation but is not widely available in the United States. Very rare in Europe, it is not known to have been introduced to Australasia.

Etymology

The name Danada in is a conflation of the given names of Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice, whose eponymous Foundation helped sponsor the elm breeding program at the Morton Arboretum.

Accessions

;North America
;Europe

Nurseries

;North America