The Mountain Elm of Park Zaslawa Malickiego

Most of Europe's big elms are gone. Dutch elm disease moved through the continent in waves across the twentieth century, which is why a wych elm with a trunk over three metres round is a stranger sight in a European city than an oak twice that size. This one measures 312 centimetres and stands 28 metres tall, and Warsaw protected it as a natural monument on 10 October 2012. It is the middle of three protected trees in one small Ochota park, by date rather than by size: the white poplar at the southern end was signed off in 1987, the silver maple by the pond in 2016. All three stand within about 150 metres of each other, which is unusually generous for a neighbourhood park with a playground in it. Wych elm gives itself away in the hand. Its leaves are the largest of any European elm, rough as fine sandpaper on the upper side, and set lopsided on the stalk so that one half of the leaf base runs further down than the other. In late winter it flowers before it leafs, and the bare crown reddens with them for a few weeks before anything green appears. Nobody has dated this one and the register does not try. If you know the planting history of this park, tell us.