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| Trunk of small elm, edge of Gates Green Road, Coney Hall, 8 March 2011. |
Although nearly all the mature Elm trees in England have been wiped out, and the disease is still making its way through Scotland, there are still lots of Elms around, in the form of hedgerows and low scrub. It seems that the bark beetles that carry the deadly fungus tend not to fly near the ground, so don't attack the low-growing young trees. But the taller ones in the hedgerow where I took this photo are dead.
The reason for this photo is, of course, the configuration of the bark. The mature trees show the same ridges, but on a large trunk they don't look so unusual.
Thank you! I don't think I ever saw a living elm tree. What is called 'Dutch Elm Disease' is held responsible for their loss in almost every town and village in the USA, whose streets had been, proverbially, Elm Streets and were in fact lined with elms.
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