Green Cathedral: Iconic American Elm Tree Returns to Montreal

An estimated 35,000 American Elm trees in the 1940s There was Montreal. They towered up to 80 feet above streets like Sherbrooke and St Hubert and arched against each other to create a thick green canopy over the road.

They were wiped out decades later by Dutch elm and nearly all were gone. Today, few hardy survivors of these original elms remain.

But this arboreal icon is making a comeback. The city is renovating Pine He Avenue between Hutchison Street and Saint-Denis Street,and when the work is completed next year, he will plant 150 new trees along this previously exposed trunk. is going to grow. Four of his species are planted, including basswood and hackberry trees, and his two varieties of elm, Brandon and Accolade. This is the latest step in the revival of the beloved trees that once defined Montreal's cityscape.

"The Dutch elm disease captured the public imagination because the streets were covered with elms. People called them green cathedrals," Raval said. says Louis Bernier, professor of forestry at the university. "It started in the 19th century when millions of elms were planted in cities across North America. Every city has Elm Street because there were so many elms." 38}

The American elm is popular because in many ways it is the perfect urban tree.

"It's a highly tolerant species to many types of stress, such as drought, wind, compacted soils, and even road salt and abrasives, which are abundant in winter," Vernier says.

What's more, it has an elegant wine glass shape. The long, thin trunk becomes a parasol tuft of oval leaves. In his 1961 New Yorker elegy profile, he was described as a "big green cloud." Similar profiles remained so distinctive that they were easy to spot.

"No other tree looks like an American elm against the sky," nature photographer William M. Harlow once said.

Dutch Elm is caused by a fungus spread by bark beetles. It migrated from Asia to Europe and was first identified by Dutch scientists before landing in New York in the 1920s. It spread over most of the continent and decimated nearly every elm in its path. About 75% of North American elms died, with higher rates in many cities. Over 80% died in Toronto and over 90% in Montreal.

Here many elms have been replaced by short, bushy ash trees. For heritage advocate Dinu Bumbar, the impact was similar to what happens when a historic building is demolished and replaced with a new one. The face of the city has changed forever. “Part of the charm of the elm was the way it stood,” he says. "They created a different street height than today's lollipop his tree."

Not everywhere met the same fate. The Dutch elm disease never reached Alberta, where the streets of Edmonton are still shaded by American elms. Quebec City was able to save 21,000 elms thanks to a particularly cold winter and an ongoing active monitoring and prevention program.

Elms are finally making a comeback in Montreal. Arborist cultivates disease-resistant specimens, including Accolade his elm, which was developed by Morton Arboretum in Chicago as a hybrid of two different Asian elms with a shape similar to the classic American elm. I've been Over the past decade, more than 3,900 accolades have been planted for him around Montreal. Near St-Laurent Blvd. Prince Arthur Street, Accolade elms, planted in the summer of 2008, begin to rise above adjacent buildings.

Brandon Elm, also planted on Pine Avenue, is a relative newcomer. Derived from the elm tree native to Brandon, Manitoba, the city's public tree records show that there are only 103 he trees around Montreal. Louis Bernier and his former colleague, a former forest engineer, Guy Bussières say he is unsure if it can resist the elm disease.

City spokesperson Melanie Dallaire said: They say they are indeed disease resistant. But she also says the city has learned from its past mistakes. "The decision was made to put the elm back in pine, but this time it will be integrated into a new community of diverse species to avoid monocultures," she says. The typical scene of rows of elms is not recreated."[85][86] However, she noted,"Elm is a remarkable and elegant species that deserves its place along the streets of Montreal."

Elms are back with a piece of Montreal's legacy.

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   History in our eyes: May 10, 1978, in place of the lost elm

2. 40,000 trees cut down in battle with Emerald Ash Borers