top of page

Identifying the Wych Elm Tree

The Wych Elm was once one of the most common trees across the island of Ireland and much of the canopy of our original wild woods was composed of these huge trees.

 

The main characteristics are as follows:

wych-elm-canopy-epping-forest-v6f17-richard-osbourne.jpg
asymmetric back.jpg

Asymmetric base

Wych Elms have an asymmetric base, where the leaf attaches to the stalk - so that it almost has the appearance of being twisted.

Hairy leaf

The surface of the leaf is hairy - giving a rough feel and an almost sandpapery feel and rustling sound if rubbed gently.

hairy.jpg
toothed 3 pronged.jpg

Toothed edges

The leaves are deeply toothed all along the edges culminating in a distinctive long tapering point - sometimes becoming almost three-pronged.

Large size leaf

The leaves are generally quite large - up to 16cm, noticably larger than other species of Elm.

Elm Leaf Size.jpg
elmseeds.jpg

Seeds

The trees set seed in May and June - at a time when most other trees are only beginning to flower. The seeds are held in bunches on the tree and have the appearance of Autumn leaves.

Hunting for your first Wych Elm tree

Wych Elm was once common all over Ireland - from the tops of mountains down to the coast - and they can still be found in all of these places. Good places to look include:

  • Old demesnes

  • Old woodlands

  • Hedgerows and roadsides

  • Parks and gardens

  • Sometimes isolated trees on farmland / grazed fields.

daniel-sessler-oQPoMGha2jg-unsplash_edit

Finding, identifying and tagging your Elm Tree

Here are the rules for identifying a tree:

​

The fungus which causes Dutch Elm Disease is spread by a beetle which is usually only interested in large trees. This means that there are millions of small trees which are still susceptible to the disease, but just have not yet been infected. 

 

For this reason, we are restricting our search to only the largest Elm trees in the country - those most likely to have been exposed to the disease, but which still survive.

​

In order to qualify as being of interest, a tree must be :

  1. Definitely a Wych Elm (not another species of Elm such as White Elm or English Elm).

  2. At least 15m / 50ft tall OR

  3. At least 2m in circumference 30cm / 1 foot from the base OR

  4. At least 1.5m circumference at 1.5m from the ground.

Asset 4_4x.png

Uploading your Wych Elm Tree

Once you are satisfied that you have correctly identified a Wych Elm tree and that it meets the size criteria, there’s some information we’d like you to provide where possible:

  1. Estimated height.

  2. Estimated girth.

  3. Photo of the entire tree (so we can compare shape / silhouette).

  4. Photos of individual leaves.

  5. Google Maps dropped pin of exact location.

  6. Any additional information (directions, landowner etc.)

Once I've uploaded my tree what happens next?

If your tree upload fits all the criteria for entry, we will pin this tree on our live map of Ireland with your name against the entry, unless you'd like to remain anonymous (option provided).

 

Once your tree is uploaded, we'll make every effort to confirm the tree. If we are not aware of its existence, we will send one of our volunteers to examine it and return to the tree in early summer to collect seeds from it.

 

If you have checked the box to receive our newsletter, we will send you our newsletter by email to keep you informed of the progress of our ongoing campaign.

bottom of page