Champion Dutch Elm
Maryland State Champion - A Survivor of Dutch Elm DiseaseFungus spread by beetles devastated American Elm
This tree with its long lateral branch extending over the trail is a survivor of Dutch elm disease. The disease is not of Dutch origin, but because early work on the disease was done by Dutch pathologists in the 1920s, the disease has been called Dutch elm disease.
Baltimore’s first sighting of this fungal pathogen was made by the U.S. Department of Agriculture chief inspector L.M. Scott in May 1933. He was examining a crate of logs coming through the Port of Baltimore from Europe and noticed a tiny, dark reddish brown beetle about the size of a grain of rice crawling over the shipment.
The fungus carried by the elm bark beetle gets into the tree’s xylem, which transports water from the roots to the rest of the tree. The fungus jams up the water flow and the tree wilts and eventually dies.
The disease quickly spread throughout the eastern seaboard, wiping out millions of elms, America’s number one shade tree, planted along streets and in parks all across the country. It remains the most damaging disease of elms and the leading cause of elm mortality. Efforts to hybridize a variety of elm that can resist the fungus continues.
This amazing survivor tree, located along the Herring Run trail just south of Eastwood Dr. hill, was measured in 2019 by volunteers from the Baltimore City Forestry Board. They recorded its trunk at 178 inches around and its height at 74 feet. It is currently the Maryland State Champion Dutch elm (Ulmus hollandica x ‘Minor’) as registered with the state’s Big Tree Program ( mdbigtrees.org ). Dutch Elm is a hybrid of the Wych elm and the field elm from England. How it got here in Herring Run Park is a mystery. We can’t be sure of its age, but it's likely to be over 200 years old.
Sources:
https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/tree-plant-care/plant-care-resources/dutch-elm-disease/
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5342693.pdf
Urban Forests, Jill Jonnes chapter 9, p. 116, Viking, 2016
This tree with its long lateral branch extending over the trail is a survivor of Dutch elm disease. The disease is not of Dutch origin, but because early work on the disease was done by Dutch pathologists in the 1920s, the disease has been called Dutch elm disease.
Baltimore’s first sighting of this fungal pathogen was made by the U.S. Department of Agriculture chief inspector L.M. Scott in May 1933. He was examining a crate of logs coming through the Port of Baltimore from Europe and noticed a tiny, dark reddish brown beetle about the size of a grain of rice crawling over the shipment.
The fungus carried by the elm bark beetle gets into the tree’s xylem, which transports water from the roots to the rest of the tree. The fungus jams up the water flow and the tree wilts and eventually dies.
The disease quickly spread throughout the eastern seaboard, wiping out millions of elms, America’s number one shade tree, planted along streets and in parks all across the country. It remains the most damaging disease of elms and the leading cause of elm mortality. Efforts to hybridize a variety of elm that can resist the fungus continues.
This amazing survivor tree, located along the Herring Run trail just south of Eastwood Dr. hill, was measured in 2019 by volunteers from the Baltimore City Forestry Board. They recorded its trunk at 178 inches around and its height at 74 feet. It is currently the Maryland State Champion Dutch elm (Ulmus hollandica x ‘Minor’) as registered with the state’s Big Tree Program ( mdbigtrees.org ). Dutch Elm is a hybrid of the Wych elm and the field elm from England. How it got here in Herring Run Park is a mystery. We can’t be sure of its age, but it's likely to be over 200 years old.
Sources:
https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/tree-plant-care/plant-care-resources/dutch-elm-disease/
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5342693.pdf
Urban Forests, Jill Jonnes chapter 9, p. 116, Viking, 2016
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