#69 KEAKI
Zelkova serrata
County Champion
This tree can be found on the south side of the Grass Path.
| Distribution: | Japan, Taiwan, north-east China and Korea |
| Planting Date: | 1914 supplied by W Clibran & Sons, Oldfield Nursery, Altringham, Cheshire. |
| Appearance: | Medium sized tree potentially up to 30 m. |
| Growth Habit: | Short trunk dividing into upright and erect stems, making a broad but light-limbed dome. |
| Bark: | Greyish-brown, smooth bark with lenticels becoming flaky in dappled patches. Exfoliation later, reveals a rusty coloured under-bark in a deckled hammered effect in the mature wood. |
| Leaf: | Alternate, toothed ovate to obovate, slender, long to 12 cm with 6 to 13 pairs. Hairy under only main veins and stalks about 5 mm to 10 mm. Many trees produce occasional sprays of miniature foliage. Good Autumn colour and late leaf fall. |
| Flowers: | Small and inconspicuous male, or hermaphrodite, green flowers in Spring. |
| Fruit: | Tiny green, ovate, wingless drupes form along the twigs and ripen from green to brown through Summer to Autumn |
| Tree Size in 2023: | Height 21 m and girth 303 cm (at 0.5 m height) |
| Uses: | Widely used, untreated, in the building of key buildings, such as temples. Resilient against Dutch Elm Disease and recently planted as a street tree in New York City. Often used as a bonsai subject. |
| Plant Hunter: | First cultivation outside Asia was by Philipp Franz Von Siebold who introduced it to the Netherlands in 1830. |
| Introduction Date: | Recognised introduction to England in 1862 |
| Anecdotes and Comments: | In 1951 the Hillier Nurseries supplied a 2 tonne specimen with a 10 m spread to the Festival of Britain, on the South Bank. |
Rated County Champion by The Tree Register in April 2023, on account of its height and girth.