Trees believed to have been extinct in Britain have been discovered at the Queen’s official residence in Scotland.

 

The two 30-metre (98ft) Wentworth elms have been identified in the Queen’s garden at the Palace of Holyroodhouse just a stone’s throw from the centre of Edinburgh. Tree experts are now looking into ways of propagating the rare specimens, which carry the botanical name Ulmus wentworthii pendula.

 

Max Coleman, of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), identified the mature trees after they were noted as being unusual during a tree survey.

 

The trees grow with a “weeping” appearance and have large glossy leaves.

 

Scientists say the Wentworth elm was most likely introduced to cultivation in the late 19th century but it was thought to have been wiped out in the devastating Dutch elm disease epidemic, which destroyed up to 75m UK trees during the late 20th century.

 

While the palace trees have been identified, it is not yet clear where the two specimens came from.

 

Curators and archivists at the royal household and RBGE are now working to find out more about their origins.

 

One theory is that the trees arrived at Holyrood from RBGE and survived while their botanic garden sibling died.

 

Archives already show that three Wentworth elms arrived at the botanic garden from Germany in 1902, after which all subsequent records refer to a single tree at the garden. The single Wentworth elm died in 1996 when it succumbed to Dutch elm disease. (The Guardian)

 

 

PHOTO: The trees grow with a ‘weeping’ appearance and have large glossy leaves.

CREDIT: Jane Barlow/PA.