To Elm and Back?

There is further news of the Conservation Foundation's attempt to restore the one archetypal Elm to the UK following its 1970s decimation by 'Dutch elm disease' (http://www.conservationfoundation.co.uk/?page_id=53). Dutch elm disease is a fungal infection (mainly Ophiostoma novo-ulmi) that was transmitted by the Elm bark beetle (Scolytus scolytus). It was referred to as 'Dutch elm disease' because much of the early research on this devastating condition was carried out in Holland (not because the agent specifically kills Dutch elm). The English elm (Ulmus procera) still hangs on particularly in area around Brighton and Hove and some more resistant trees such as the 'Sapporo Autumn Gold' cultivar developed by the University of Wisconsin seem to have thrived in the UK. The Conservation Foundation is e.g. offering schools saplings of disease resistant Elm generated in a tree propagation programme in India by the Berkeley Reafforestation Trust. It is uncertain whether the saplings are actually derived from the native English elm and there might well be a potential problem in terms of the reduced genetic diversity in the Elm that is likely to result from this initiative. The Elm is, however, a nice tree.