The National Elm Trial is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 volunteer effort to evaluate a range of newly developed elm

Elm

Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The dozens of species are found in temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ranging southward into Indonesia. Elms are components of many kinds of natural forests...

 cultivars as replacements for elms destroyed by Dutch elm disease

Dutch elm disease

Dutch elm disease is a disease caused by a member of the sac fungi category, affecting elm trees which is spread by the elm bark beetle. Although believed to be originally native to Asia, the disease has been accidentally introduced into America and Europe, where it has devastated native...

 (DED). It is coordinated by Colorado State University

Colorado State University

Colorado State University is a public research university located in Fort Collins, Colorado. The university is the state's land grant university, and the flagship university of the Colorado State University System.The enrollment is approximately 29,932 students, including resident and...

.

The trial began in 2005, but has been restricted to elm cultivars commercially available in the USA, unlike the trial conducted by Iowa State University

Iowa State University

Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...

 in the 1970s which included the most recent European developments. The trial will be conducted for 10 years, with annual assessments of each tree for height, diameter, crown characteristics, and fall color, as well as response to vascular diseases, canker diseases, foliar diseases, insect infestations, bark beetle infestations, and abiotic damages. Stated goals of the trial are as follows:

• Determine the growth and horticultural performance of commercially available DED-resistant elm cultivars in various climate regimes in the United States.
• Determine the relative disease, insect, and abiotic stress tolerance of these cultivars.
• Promote the propagation and use of elms through local, regional, and national reporting of the trial results to wholesale tree propagators and growers, retail nursery and garden center operators, landscaper designers, arborists, and the general public.

As of January 2000, 19 distinct cultivars are being evaluated in regional trials taking place under the scientific supervision of Auburn University

Auburn University

Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...

, University of California at Davis, Colorado State University

Colorado State University

Colorado State University is a public research university located in Fort Collins, Colorado. The university is the state's land grant university, and the flagship university of the Colorado State University System.The enrollment is approximately 29,932 students, including resident and...

, Purdue University

Purdue University

Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...

, Iowa State University

Iowa State University

Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...

, Kansas State University

Kansas State University

Kansas State University, commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States...

, Michigan State University

Michigan State University

Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...

, University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...

, Rutgers University

Rutgers University

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...

, State University of New York

State University of New York

The State University of New York, abbreviated SUNY , is a system of public institutions of higher education in New York, United States. It is the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States, with a total enrollment of 465,000 students, plus...

, North Dakota State University

North Dakota State University

North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences, more commonly known as North Dakota State University , is a public university in Fargo, North Dakota. NDSU has about 14,000 students and it is the largest university in North Dakota based on full time students and land size...

, Ohio State University

Ohio State University

The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...

, Utah State University

Utah State University

Utah State University is a public university located in Logan, Utah. It is a land-grant and space-grant institution and is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities....

, University of Vermont

University of Vermont

The University of Vermont comprises seven undergraduate schools, an honors college, a graduate college, and a college of medicine. The Honors College does not offer its own degrees; students in the Honors College concurrently enroll in one of the university's seven undergraduate colleges or...

, Washington State University

Washington State University

Washington State University is a public research university based in Pullman, Washington, in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1890, WSU is the state's original and largest land-grant university...

, and West Virginia University

West Virginia University

West Virginia University is a public research university in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Other campuses include: West Virginia University at Parkersburg in Parkersburg; West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery; Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser;...

.

List of cultivars included in the trial

• American Elm Ulmus americana cvs: 'Jefferson'
  Ulmus americana 'Jefferson'
  The American Elm Ulmus americana cultivar Jefferson was cloned from a tree that grows along the National Mall in Washington D. C. . Planted in the 1930s, it remains unscathed by Dutch elm disease, and was cloned by the U. S. National Park Service, which released it as 'Jefferson' in 2004...
  
  , 'New Harmony'
  Ulmus americana 'New Harmony'
  The American Elm Ulmus americana cultivar New Harmony was raised by the Maryland Agricultural Research Service and released by the United States National Arboretum in 1995, along with 'Valley Forge'.-Description:...
  
  , 'Princeton'
  Ulmus americana 'Princeton'
  The American Elm Ulmus americana cultivar Princeton was originally selected in 1922 by New Jersey nurseryman William Flemer for its aesthetic merit...
  
  , 'Lewis & Clark' (Prairie Expedition)
  Ulmus americana 'Lewis & Clark'
  The American Elm Ulmus americana cultivar Lewis & Clark is a relatively new development from the North Dakota State University Research Foundation breeding programme, released in 2004 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the eponymous expedition...
  
  .
• Chinese Elm Ulmus parvifolia
  Ulmus parvifolia
  Ulmus parvifolia, commonly known as the Chinese Elm or Lacebark Elm, is a species native to China, Japan, North Korea and Vietnam...
  
  cvs: BSNUPF (Everclear)
  Ulmus parvifolia 'BSNUPF'
  The Chinese Elm Ulmus parvifolia cultivar BSNUPF is a new tree raised by John Barbour of Athena Trees, Monroe, Georgia.-Description:...
  
  , 'Emer I' (Athena)
  Ulmus parvifolia 'Emer I'
  The Chinese Elm Ulmus parvifolia Jacq. cultivar Emer I or Emerald Isle was cloned from a tree planted circa 1920 on the University of Georgia campus at Athens .-Description:...
  
  , 'Emer II' (Allee)
  Ulmus parvifolia 'Emer II'
  The Chinese Elm Ulmus parvifolia Jacq. cultivar Emer II or Emerald Vase was cloned from a tree planted circa 1910 on the University of Georgia campus at Athens.-Description:...
  
  .
• Japanese Elm Ulmus davidiana var. japonica cvs: 'JFS - Bieberich' (Emerald Sunshine), 'Prospector'.
• Hybrid elm cvs: 'Frontier', 'Homestead', 'Morton' (Accolade), 'Morton Glossy' (Triumph), 'Morton Plainsman' (Vanguard), 'Morton Red Tip' (Danada Charm), 'Morton Stalwart' (Commendation)
  Ulmus 'Morton Stalwart'
  The Elm tree Ulmus 'Morton Stalwart' , is a Morton Arboretum hybrid from a controlled crossing of 'Morton' with a Ulmus pumila × U. minor from eastern Russia.-Description:...
  
  , 'New Horizon', 'Patriot'
  Ulmus 'Patriot'
  The hybrid elm cultivar Patriot is a United States National Arboretum introduction derived in 1980 from a crossing of the American hybrid 'Urban' with the Wilson's Elm cultivar 'Prospector' and released to commerce, free of patent restrictions, in 1993...
  
  , 'Pioneer'.