THE STATE OF ELMS (ULMUS L., ULMACEAE) IN ARBORETUM OF PETER THE GREAT BOTANIC GARDEN IN 2016
The dying of elms (Ulmus L.) at Peter the Great Botanic Garden of the Komarov Botanical Institute RAS in Saint-Petersburg has been observed since the beginning of the 1990's, soon after the observable St.-Petersburg climate warming. About 400 trees (12 Ulmus species and cultivars) died and then were cut down and removed from the Botanic Garden until 2017. The living resistant trees are represented by 15 specimens of 3 species of East Asian origin and one their hybrid (excepting infested Ulmus laevis trees, which should be removed soon). It would be useful to propagate the best-survived specimens and to start the work on elm selection for a culture in North-Western Russia. The most perspective species for region would be East Asian elm species, primarily resistant Ulmus species, which originate from Central and South-Western China.