Elms of the National Mall

The National Mall ranks among the most important and easily recognizable green spaces in the United States. Two of the Mall’s elms are particularly noteworthy witnesses to the history of this national treasure. The Botanic Garden Elm Zelcova (Zelkova carpinifolia) has survived countless re-designs of the southeast end of the Mall including the early 20th century work completed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., the installation of the Grant and Meade Memorials and Capitol Reflecting Pool, and, most recently, the restoration of the United States Botanic Gardens. Similarly, the Jefferson American Elm was likely planted on the Mall along with some 600 other American elms (Ulmus americana) during the 1930s. While more than one third of the Mall’s American elms had succumbed to Dutch elm disease by 1994, the Jefferson Elm, a Dutch elm disease resistant selection, endured as a living representation of the 1901 McMillan Commission Plan for Washington, D.C.