The Field Elm cultivar Ulmus minor 'Propendens', described by Schneider in 1904 as U. glabra (:minor) var. suberosa propendens,C. K. Schneider, Ill. Handb. Laubh. 1: 220. 1904 Weeping Cork-barked elm, was said by Krüssmann (1976) to be synonymous with the U. suberosa pendula listed by Lavallée without description in 1877. Earlier still, Loudon's Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum (Volume 7, 1854) had included an illustration of a pendulous "cork-barked field elm", U. campestris suberosa.John Claudius Loudon, Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum, Vol. 7 (1854), p.235 An U. campestris suberosa pendula was in nurseries by the 1870s (see 'Cultivation').

Not to be confused with U. campestris (:U. minor) microphylla pendula, a smooth-twigged cultivar.

Green considered Kirchner's Ulmus rugosa pendula (1864) a synonym of 'Propendens'.

Description 'Propendens' has branches wide-spreading, nodding, and corky; the leaves are small, – long. Long shoots; sheet described as U. campestris suberosa pendula = U. carpinifolia Gled. 'Propendens' Schneid. (Rehd.); Long shoots; sheet described as U. campestris suberosa pendula = U. carpinifolia Gled. 'Propendens' Schneid. (Rehd.); Sheet described as U. campestris suberosa pendula (RBGE specimen, 1902); Sheet described as U. campestris suberosa pendula (RBGE specimen, 1902); Sheet described as U. campestris suberosa pendula (RBGE specimen, 1902); Short shoots; sheet described as U. carpinifolia Gled. 'Propendens' Schneid., synonym U. campestris suberosa propendens (Dahlen Hortus specimen, 1925); Sheet described as U. carpinifolia Gled. 'Propendens' Schneid., "formerly called U. campestris suberosa pendula lombartsii" (Boskoop specimen, 1934)

Pests and diseases Most U. minor cultivars are susceptible to Dutch elm disease, but, if not grafted, can survive through root-sucker regrowth.

Cultivation 'Propendens' remains in cultivation in Belgium (see 'Nurseries'); no surviving mature specimens have been confirmed, although a putative specimen grows at the Botanic Garden of Eötvös Loránd University of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary. Provisionally identified as U. laevis 'Pendula', it has very corky-winged branchlets, atypical of the species.

From the 1870s, an U. campestris suberosa pendula was marketed in New York by the Mount Hope Nursery (also known as Ellwanger and Barry) of Rochester, New York, where it was distinguished from U. campestris microphylla pendula,Ellwanger & Barry, Descriptive Catalogue of Hardy Ornamental Trees ... at the Mount Hope Nurseries (Rochester, N.Y., 1875) and from the 1880s by the Späth nursery of Berlin and by Smith's of Worcester.L. Späth, Katalog 69, p.9, 1887'Standard Ornamental Trees' in Forest, hardy ornamental trees, conifers, etc., Richard Smith & Co., Worcester, 1887–88, p.27 Späth supplied an U. campestris suberosa pendula to the Dominion Arboretum, Ottawa, Canada in 1899, and three to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 1902, which may survive in Edinburgh, as it was the practice of the Garden to distribute trees about the city (viz. the Wentworth Elm). The current list of Living Accessions held in the Garden per se does not list the plant. 1902 RBGE herbarium specimens, however, show smooth rather than corky twigs (see 'External links'). Kew's U. campestris var. microphylla pendula (1896 Hand List), with small leaves about an inch in length, was equated with 'Propendens' by Henry (1913), who called it "a form of Ulmus nitens var. suberosa", and by Rehder (1949); it was classed by Melville as a nothomorph of 'Sarniensis'.Melville, R. (1978). On the discrimination of species in hybrid swarms with special reference to Ulmus and the nomenclature of U. minor (Mill.) and U. carpinifolia (Gled.). Taxon 27: 345-351.bioportal.naturalis.nl, specimenL.1582570 An U. suberosa pendula with "dark-green rough leaves" and "corky branches" appeared in the 1909 catalogue of the Bobbink and Atkins nursery, Rutherford, New Jersey, where it was distinguished from U. campestris microphylla pendula. A specimen obtained from Späth as U. suberosa pendula and planted in 1911 stood in the Ryston Hall arboretum, Norfolk, in the early 20th century. 'Propendens', distinguished from 'Microphylla Pendula', was present in The Hague in the 1930s.Christine Buisman, 'Verslag van de onderzoekingen over de iepenziekte, verricht in het phytopathologisch laboratorium Willie Commelin scholten te Baarn, gedurende 1932 (1)', Tijdschrift over Planteziekte, Vol 39 Iss 4, April  1933, p.82 The tree is believed to have once been popular in eastern Europe. An U. campestris suberosa pendula, possibly 'Propendens', was present in nurseries in Victoria, Australia, in the late 19th century.Brookes, Margaret, & Barley, Richard, Plants listed in nursery catalogues in Victoria, 1855-1889 (Ornamental Plant Collection Association, South Yarra, Victoria, 1992), p.303–304

Accessions Grange Farm Arboretum, Lincolnshire, UK. Acc. no. 1144.

Nurseries Centrum voor Botanische Verrijking vzw, Kampenhout, Belgium.Centrum voor Botanische Verrijking vzw: Voorraadlijst , accessdate: November 2, 2016

Synonymy Ulmus campestris var. microphylla pendula, Rehder. Ulmus campestris var. suberosa alata, Hort.: Kirchner, in Petzold & Kirchner, Arboretum Muscaviense 566, 1864. Ulmus campestris suberosa pendula Hort.: Späth, (Berlin, Germany), Catalogue 69, p. 9, 1887. Ulmus rugosa pendula Hort.: Kirchner, in Petzold & Kirchner, Arboretum Muscaviense 566, 1864, as name in synonymy. Ulmus suberosa pendula: Audibert, (Tonnelle, Tarascon, France), Catalogue 2, p. 53, 1831–32. U. carpinifolia 'Propendens': Krüssmann (1976)Krüssman, Gerd, Manual of Cultivated Broad-Leaved Trees & Shrubs (1984 vol. 3)

References