Rough Leaved Native Elm

[bonsaibontanist]

Many of you probably have not heard of this species or know that Australia has native elms. The scientific name is Aphananthe philippinensis More information about it can be found here: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-b ... ippinensis
It is a member of the plant family Ulmaceae so it is a relative of the true Elms form the Northern Hemisphere not some Aussie species that had similar wood and is unrelated.

This species has quite good potential for bonsai it has small toothed leaves with a sandpapery texture that reduce well.
The bark is reddish brown and sheds in rounded flakes making it very attractive in the mature trees.
The best ones can be found growing in cow paddocks near rainforest patches where the cows have pruned the branches and kept the leaves small.

I only have one growing and it is not the best specimen but I am keen to collect some better cow paddock Yamadori.
The secret with these is to dig out a circle of soil around the tree and then use a spade to life out the tree with an intact root ball, I did it with this one in the photo.

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[Gav]

Cool thanks for the heads up...interesting little tree...

[MoGanic]

Very interesting!

Any idea if they grow down here in Vic?

Cheers mate thanks for posting.

-Mo

[bonsaibontanist]

Seems like they don't get quite that far south they appear commonly North from NewCastle and the Hunter with an outlying southern limit at Woolongong. See AVH map here: http://avh.ala.org.au/occurrences/searc ... ab_mapView
I reckon this species would handle it down in Vic unless your in a very cold spot. I have seen the paddocks where these plants grow get to -8 in Winter.

[MoGanic]

Seems like they don't get quite that far south they appear commonly North from NewCastle and the Hunter with an outlying southern limit at Woolongong. See AVH map here: http://avh.ala.org.au/occurrences/searc ... ab_mapView
I reckon this species would handle it down in Vic unless your in a very cold spot. I have seen the paddocks where these plants grow get to -8 in Winter.

Sweet, thanks for the info brother. Will have to hunt these down here.