The hybrid cultivar Ulmus 'Androssowii' <small>R. Kam.</small> (or 'Androsowii'), an elm of southern Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan sometimes referred to in old travel books as 'Turkestan Elm' or as 'karagach' [:black tree, = elm], its local name, is probably an artificial hybrid. According to the tree is unknown in the wild in Uzbekistan, and apparently arose from a crossing of U. densa var. bubyriana <small>Litv.</small> (now Ulmus minor 'Umbraculifera'), which it resembles (see the disputed species Ulmus densa), and the Siberian Elm Ulmus pumila. It is sometimes listed as Ulmus ÃÂ androssowii (see below).
Not to be confused with the Ulmus 'Turkestanica' distributed by the Späth nursery of Berlin.
For so-called Ulmus androssowii var. subhirsuta <small> C. K. Schneid. </small> and Ulmus androssowii var. virgata <small> (Planch.) Grudz. </small>, see Ulmus chumlia.
The tree grows to a height of and is distinguished by its very dense spherical crown and pubescent leaves. Rehder noted (1939) that though similar in habit to 'Umbraculifera', 'Androssowi' could be "easily distinguished" by the grayish-brown bark of its twigs with conspicuous corky wings on older branches, by the pubescent winter-buds, by the mostly shallow- and single-toothed leaves, pubescent beneath, and by the near-orbicular fruit 10âÂÂ13 mm in diameter, with the seed slightly above the middle. In 'Umbraculifera', by contrast, the twigs are red-brown and never corky, the leaves are more clearly and sharply double-toothed, only slightly pubescent beneath when young and soon smooth, and the obovate fruit is wedge-shaped at base and about 1.5 cm long, with the seed close to the notch. The compact branch structure of 'Androssowii' helps the tree conserve moisture.
Not known. In 1987, according to a Forestry Commission study of the Dushanbe area, Tajikistan, elms including 'Androssowii' "were plentiful in the city, pastures and roadside plantations, but no symptoms of Dutch elm disease, foliar or internal, were found. Breeding galleries of a Scolytus species close to Scolytus multistriatus were present in stressed or dying trees but no Ophiostoma ulmi was obtained from the galleries." The report concluded that, to date, the region may have escaped Dutch elm disease through geographical isolation.
The hybrid has been widely planted in southern and western areas of the former Soviet Union, notably along the streets of Samarkand and Almaty. In western Europe it was distributed by Hesse's Nurseries, Weener, Germany, in the 1930s. A specimen was present at Kew Gardens in the 1930s. Cold-hardy, it prefers a rich soil and moderate humidity.
As the protologue (the first name used) for a hybrid of the U. minor ÃÂ U. pumila group, Ulmus ÃÂ androssowii is a valid group name for other crossings of these two species, whether wild or cultivated. The apparent uniformity of the cultivar 'Androssowii' makes it likely to be a single clone, Ulmus ÃÂ androssowii 'Androssowii' (Richens called the cultivar 'Major' Ulmus ÃÂ hollandica 'Hollandica'). In addition to the native range of this hybrid group in Central Asia, spontaneous hybridization of field elm and Siberian elm also occurs in Spain and Italy, where Siberian elm is naturalised. Kew, however, currently states (2025) that "The hybrid formula is U. minor ÃÂ U. pumila", without citing a group name.
Cultivars include:
Unnamed hybrids of this group have also been planted as street trees in northern Italy, where they show variable susceptibility to Dutch elm disease.