The elm cultivar Ulmus 'Koopmannii' was cloned from a specimen raised from seed sent from Margilan, Turkestan (now in eastern Uzbekistan) by Koopmann to the Botanischer Garten Berlin [1] c. 1880.

The tree is said to resemble Ulmus minor 'Umbraculifera' in form, though more globose in outline,[8][9][10] with a dense, narrowish oval crown, a height to 35 feet (11 m),[11] and small, ovate leaves < 30 mm in length.

[6] Koopman claimed that 'Koopmannii' was traditionally grown in cemeteries in Turkestan, where it occasionally reached a great size,[7] In the late 19th and early 20th century it was marketed in Europe by Späth, and was represented by a tree in the Berlin Botanical Garden.

[15] The tree was introduced to the US in the late 19th century, appearing as a "new variety" in the 1897 catalogue of the Mount Hope Nursery (also known as Ellwanger and Barry) of Rochester, New York.

Specimens supplied by Späth to the RBGE in 1902 as U. campestris 'Koopmannii' may survive in Edinburgh as it was the practice of the Garden to distribute trees about the city (viz.