Zelkova

In the early twentieth century, the streets of any American town that had pretensions to gentility would be shaded by elms. The elms grew bigger and shadier until, at mid-century, a little beetle killed off most of them by spreading a strangling fungus known as Dutch Elm Disease.

To shade the naked streets, horticulturalists looked around the world for replacements. In Japan they found one that had the elm's familiar vase shape. It was called the zelkova.

Though it grows more slowly than the elm, just twelve to eighteen inches a year, the zelkova will eventually become as tall, reaching sixty to a hundred feet high and spreading perhaps fifty feet wide. It withstands wind, drought, and cold winters. Depending on which authority you read, it is somewhat resistant or somewhat susceptible to Dutch Elm Disease.

And it inspires affection. "Overcoming many difficulties, the zelkova grows rich leaves and thick branches to offer spacious shade that people love," says the Zelkova Love Society of Korea. "This tree represents patience, tolerance, peace and harmony."

Although the zelkova is native to Korea and Japan, its name came to English (appearing in an 1893 book on ornamental trees) from the opposite corner of Asia, the present-day recently independent Republic of Georgia, where the zelkova also grows. Georgian, a member of the South Caucasian language family, is spoken by nearly four million people in that country, where it is the official language. Zelkova is the only word of Georgian in the general vocabulary of English.

Zelkova
Zelkova serrata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Ulmaceae
Genus:	Zelkova Spach
Species
See text

Zelkova is a genus of six species of deciduous trees in the elm family Ulmaceae, native to southern Europe, and southwest and eastern Asia. They vary in size from shrubs (Z. sicula) to large trees up to 35 m tall (Z. carpinifolia). The leaves are alternate, with serrated margins, and (unlike the related elms) a symmetrical base to the leaf blade. The fruit is a dry, nut-like drupe, produced singly in the leaf axils.^[1][2][3][4]

Contents 1 Species 2 Ecology 3 Cultivation and uses 4 Etymology 5 References

Species

• Zelkova abelicea—Cretan Zelkova
• Zelkova carpinifolia—Caucasian Zelkova
• Zelkova serrata—Keyaki or Japanese Zelkova
  • Zelkova serrata var. serrata
  • Zelkova serrata var. tarokoensis
• Zelkova sicula—Sicilian Zelkova
• Zelkova sinica—Chinese Zelkova
• Zelkova schneideriana—Schneider's Zelkova

Hybrids

• Zelkova × verschaffeltii—Cut-leaf Zelkova (Z. carpinifolia × Z. serrata)

Ecology

The Sicilian Zelkova Z. sicula, only discovered in 1991, is listed as an endangered species. The only known population comprises a small number of low shrubs suffering from severe overgrazing; the natural mature size of undamaged specimens is unknown.^[5]

The genus Zelkova was common throughout northern Europe and North America as late as the Pliocene. However, extensive Pleistocene glaciation has confined the genus to its present range to the eastern Mediterranean islands and the Caucasus, and in eastern Asia where only local glaciation occurred.^[6][7]

Cultivation and uses

Zelkova serrata and Z. carpinifolia are grown as ornamental trees. The wood is hard, used for making furniture.

Etymology

The name Zelkova derives from the native name of Z. carpinifolia in one or more of the languages of the Caucasus, as shown by the Georgian name, ძელქვა (dzelkva). ძელ dzel meaning "bar", and ქვა kva meaning "rock". The tree was often used for making rock-hard and durable bars for building.

References

1. ^ Andrews, S. (1994). Tree of the year: Zelkova. Int. Dendrol. Soc. Yearbook 1993: 11-30.
2. ^ de Spoelberch, P. (1994). Zelkova: More questions than answers. Int. Dendrol. Soc. Yearbook 1993: 30-33.
3. ^ Hunt, D. (1994). Beware of the Zelkova. Int. Dendrol. Soc. Yearbook 1993: 33-41.
4. ^ Rushforth, K. (1999). Trees of Britain and Europe. Collins ISBN 0-00-220013-9.
5. ^ IUCN: Zelkova sicula
6. ^ Follieri, M., Magri, D., & Sadori, L. (1986). Late Pleistocene Zelkova Extinction in Central Italy. New Phytologist 103 (1): 269-273 Abstract
7. ^ Flora of North America: History of North American Vegetation

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