Ulmus americana
Origin: Princeton, New Jersey
Improvement status: Cultivar
Seeds per packet: ~100
BOTANICAL SAMPLE - NOT GERMINATION TESTED
Life cycle: Perennial
'Princeton' is perhaps the most famous cultivar of American elm, noted for its moderate resistance to the fearsome Dutch Elm Disease, which has decimated populations of the stately tree across the US. Released in 1922 by nurseryman William Flemer of Princeton Nurseries — once the largest commercial nursery in the US, at over 1,000 acres — 'Princeton' elm trees can be found lining Pennsylvania Avenue by the White House, in botanical gardens around the world the Arnold Arboretum in Massachusetts to Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in the UK, and in Princeton, New Jersey, itself, as part of a nearly mile-long colonnade of trees called the Washington Road Elm Allée, planted in the 1920s (of the original 136 elms planted, 76 still survive today). The resistance to Dutch Elm Disease is not complete, but it still considered among the best (along with 'New Harmony') that we have. Typically propagated by cuttings, seeds like these offer the opportunity of finding new cultivars with even more resistance.
American elms, also known sometimes as white elms or water elms, are native to eastern North America. With their broad, arching branches, wide crowns, and dark green leaves that turn yellow in fall, along with excellent cold hardiness and tolerance of urban conditions, American elms became the street tree of choice across much of the United States during the 19th and early 20th cenuries. Before that, Indigenous people and European colonizers utilized them for a wide variety of medicinal purposes as well, especially respiratory issues like coughs, colds, influenza, lung infections, etc. A fiber from the stems can be used to make paper. The inner bark has been used to make a coffee substitute. And believe it or not, the young leaves are edible and actually taste pretty good — raw or cooked!
GROWING TIPS: Plant in early spring. Seeds need no stratification. Do not grow trees in a nursery bed or pot for transplanting for more than a year (two at most), because they form a long taproot and do not like to be moved.
NOTE: Only the first three images specifically show 'Princeton' elm. The photo of the Washington Road Elm Allee (with 'Princeton' trees on the right) is by Christina Keddie and is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. The image of the large elm in front of a white building (not a 'Princeton' elm, but "Ed Cotton's Elm" in Northampton, Massachusetts) is by Marty Aligata and is shared under the same license. Other images are public domain images of American elm.
