The elm cultivar Ulmus 'Myrtifolia', the Myrtle-leaved Elm, first appeared in nursery and horticultural lists in the 1830s, as Ulmus myrtifolia and Ulmus campestris myrtifolia, the name Ulmus myrtifolia <small>Volxem</small> being used at Kew Gardens from 1880. Lawson's nursery of Edinburgh appears to have been the earliest to list the tree. 'Myrtifolia' was listed by Nicholson in Kew Hand-List Trees & Shrubs (1896), but without description. It was later listed as a cultivar and described by Rehder in 1939 and by Krüssmann in 1962.
The specimen under this name in the Herb. Nicholson at Kew was considered by Melville to be a probable U. minor ÃÂ Ulmus minor 'Plotii' hybrid.
The cultivar 'Myrtifolia Purpurea', which has larger leaves, is not related to 'Myrtifolia'.
'Myrtifolia' was described as having leaves ovate or rhombic-ovate to oblong-ovate, 2–5 cm long with nearly simple teeth, loosely pilose on both sides. The petiole is 2 to 4 mm long, and the samara is 12 to 15 mm long.
A 'Mytifolia' was present in North Road, Bath in 1902. There were specimens at Arnold Arboretum in the mid-20th century, sourced in the 1920s from a tree in Cleveland, Ohio.
The tree is not known to remain in cultivation.