Leaf specimens wanted from top of local elms
TREE specialists in the island are being called upon to provide leaf specimens from the top of Guernsey elms.
The callout comes following a senior botanist specialist at Natural England, Alex Prendergast, who tweeted that the plant species was needed as part of a regional review of the genus.
‘We have two, clearly distinguishable, common forms of elm in the island, but neither species has been verified at DNA level, so there is some confusion at high level,’ said Helen Litchfield, who is the co-secretary of the Botany Section of La Societe Guernesiaise and vice-county recorder for the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland.
‘As he [Mr Prendergast] requires leaf samples from the crown of the tree, I posted a request on the Guernsey Wildlife Facebook page for an arboriculturist to assist and I am pleased to say I have had a response from two so far.
‘Once we have the specimens, I will send them off and see what Mr Prendergast makes of them.’
Of the two distinguishable forms of elm in the Bailiwick, one is of lax habit with drooping branches and the other is upright with its branches pointing up.
Various authorities have studied and analysed Guernsey elm trees, naming and classifying them as Guernsey elm, Dutch elm, ulmus minor ‘Guernsey’ and Jersey elm.
It is hoped that Mr Prendergast’s regional review of the genus will be able to clarify the classification of the Guernsey plant.
Mr Prendergast said that specimen collections from other Channel Islands or northern France would also be useful for the review.
