Ulmus 'Sapporo Autumn Gold'

The tree usually forks at 1.5–2 m from the ground to produce a broad, rounded, densely foliated crown, though immature plants produce vigorous side shoots requiring assiduous pruning to maintain shape. The bark is pale grey, and longitudinally fissured to form a random lattice pattern. The leaves are narrowly elliptical, < 9 cm long by < 4.5 cm wide, with 8 mm petioles. As the name implies, the leaves turn pale yellow in autumn.[5] The perfect, apetalous wind-pollinated flowers appear in early March, followed by the seeds in April; flowering usually begins when the tree is aged six years.

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  Bark of 30-year-old tree
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  Foliage
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  Coastal tree, Mudeford, UK, felled 2017 owing to storm damage
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  Damage sustained during Force 8 gale, Lincs. UK

'Sapporo Autumn Gold' possesses a very high resistance to Dutch elm disease;[6][7] in trials in Italy, it sustained only 2.8% defoliation and 1.2% dieback when inoculated with unnaturally high concentrations of the fungal pathogen.[8] The cultivar also has a tolerance of Verticillium wilt.[9] The tree's foliage was adjudged 'resistant' to black spot by the Plant Diagnostic Clinic of the University of Missouri,[10] however it can be severely damaged by the elm leaf beetle (Xanthogaleruca luteola) in the United States [11] Several mature specimens near the Hampshire coast in England have become (2014) afflicted by Dryad's saddle fungus (Polyporus squamosus).[12]

In favorable conditions; notably a moist, well-drained soil, the tree can grow at a rate of almost one meter per year. Trials by the Northern Arizona University[13] found that it is not very tolerant of a hot, arid climate although its leaves sustained comparatively little scorch damage. In trials in southern England conducted by Butterfly Conservation, the tree was found to be intolerant of ponding overwinter.[12] 'Sapporo Autumn Gold' was first introduced to the UK by technology company Pitney Bowes as part of its 'Elms Across Europe' campaign. The company supplied the cultivar to schools, parks and gardens throughout the UK and Europe.[14] The tree remains popular in continental Europe but does not assimilate well in the countryside. In trials in France by Cemagref at Nogent-sur-Vernisson, Loiret, it was found to grow too vigorously in hedgerow conditions, eclipsing neighbouring shrubs and consequently creating gaps. In rich soils in the Netherlands the tree grows too fast and has poor wind resistance, whereas in poor, dry conditions growth is slower and more robust.

The hybrid was included in trials[15] in Canberra, Australia started in 1988, but has not performed well there.

In the UK, 'Sapporo Autumn Gold' has been found to host the endangered white-letter hairstreak butterfly (Satyrium w-album), whose larvae feed exclusively on elm.[16]

The very first tree planted in the UK in 1979 at the Pitney Bowes technology company by Denis Thatcher (where he was a director), survived in perfect health as of 2012;[17] however Poundland now occupy the site and the land was flattened in 2013/2014. Of five trees planted in 1980 on the green in Clifton, one survives (2016), the others having suffered "catastrophic branch collapse" in storms.[18] Other notable plantings were as street trees across Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex in late 1980s, and as riverside trees along the Ouse in York (from Lendal Bridge to Clifton Ings). The largest specimen in Europe known to Dutch elm expert Hans M. Heybroek grows at the Istituto per la Protezione delle Piante's Monna Giovanella nursery at Antella, near Florence (see Infobox photo), but this too was badly damaged by a storm in 2020.[12]

• Shapiro Autumn Gold: Whitcomb, C. E. Know it and grow it, p. 171, 1976, missprint for 'Sapporo'.