American Bonsai Society

Elms in the World of Bonsai

By Randy Davis

I was sitting here the other day wondering what I should write about for the next article with not much success.  My brain was smoking like the wheels of a really fast race car when I just said to myself “ah, just do something fun.”  Well, fun is relative, but to me it’s expanding my knowledge and the world of bonsai.  I have always been interested in promoting the use of our native North American plant species which are rather under represented in American bonsai and decided to focus on Elms thinking it would be a finite thing that could be discussed rather quickly.  As always, I end up making things complicated by asking myself too many questions.  So, instead of just talking about using our native species I thought I’d mix things up a little and talk about the world of Elms and how they infiltrated the American Bonsai hobby the way they did and why.  As we will find out, this will encompass the subjects of the Distribution of Elms world wide, American horticulture, the effects of plant disease, its movement through the world and the business of Bonsai.  To get this going lets first talk about the distribution of elms around the world.

American Bonsai Society

Ulmus parvifolia

(Chinese Elm)

By Randy Davis

We have previously delved into the world of Elms and found that there are many interesting aspects of that tree genus including its obscure history and entry into the art of Bonsai. Now it might be of interest to discuss Ulmus parvifolia in a little more detail. Ulmus parvifolia, better known by its common name of “Chinese elm” or “Chinese evergreen elm,”  is the most commonly used elm for bonsai not only in the United States but in fact the whole world.   Owing to its horticultural history as the species most used as a replacement tree because it is resistant to Dutch elm disease, its many cultivars selected over the years now number at least 50.