[4] U. laevis is rare in the UK, although its random distribution, together with the absence of any record of its introduction, has led at least one British authority to consider it native.

[8] Endemic to alluvial forest, U. laevis is rarely encountered at elevations above 400 m.[9] Most commonly found along rivers such as the Volga and Danube, it is one of very few elms tolerant of prolonged waterlogged, anoxic ground conditions.

Although not possessed of an innate genetic resistance to Dutch elm disease, the species is rarely infected in western Europe.

[8] Ulmus laevis is similar in stature to the wych elm, if rather less symmetric, with a looser, untidy, branch structure and less neatly rounded crown.

[15] The species differs from its closest relative, the American elm, mainly in the irregular crown structure and frequent epicormic shoots, features which also give the tree a distinctive winter silhouette.

[16][17] The American elm also has less acute leaf buds, longer petioles, narrower leaves, and a deeper apical notch in the samara which reaches the seed.

[19] However, research by Irstea has isolated clones able to survive injection with the causal fungus, initially losing < 70% of their foliage, but regenerating strongly the following year.

[22] Research in Spain has indicated that it is the presence of an antifeedant triterpene, alnulin, at a concentration of 200 μg/g {dried bark} which renders the tree unattractive to the beetles.

[24] It was noted by Jouin at Metz,[16] and a century later by Mittempergher and Santini in Italy, that U. laevis had a very low susceptibility to the elm leaf beetle Xanthogaleruca luteola.

[30] In England, the tree failed to prosper in chalk stream valleys, where the soil was predominantly black peat, named 'Adventurers' for the Adventurers' Land SSSI in Cambridgeshire, owing to dehydration in summer.

In trials in southern England by Butterfly Conservation, young trees of <5 m height were badly damaged by wind gusts of 40 knots (75 km/h) in midsummer storms.

The Cheshire Wildlife Trust, for example, planted numerous white elms on its reserves in the former Vale Royal district of the county.

[36] The first specimen to be reported in cultivation, in 1838, was at Whiteknights Park, Reading, which featured an elm grove;[37] the tree measured 63 ft (19 m) in height, suggesting it had been planted at the end of the 18th century.

[38] However, the authenticity of the Whiteknights tree is a matter of contention; it flowered but did not set fertile seed, which suggested to Loudon that it might be U. campestris (U. minor 'Atinia'), or, on account of it not producing suckers, possibly U. montana (:U.

A tree at Syon Park identified by Elwes & Henry as U. laevis was later considered by Bean as more closely resembling U. americana by dint of its symmetrical branch arching.

[41][non-tertiary source needed] This could explain the existence of the seven old specimens discovered by Elwes in 1908 on Mount Pleasant within Ugbrooke Park, Devon,[16] designed by Brown in 1761.

[42] Ugbrooke is four miles from Mamhead Park, which had earlier been planted with numerous exotic trees, notably holm oak, collected by its owner, merchant Thomas Ball ( d. 1749) during his commercial travels in Europe.

[54] Other examples can be found in the city, notably in Fettes College grounds opposite Inverleith Allotments, and at the entrance to North Merchiston Cemetery.

[55] In Wales, two mature trees with numerous seedlings occur in a small wood at Rhydyfelin near Aberystwyth,[56] while another grows at Llandegfan, Anglesey.

However, owing to its rapid growth, tolerance of soil compaction, air pollution and de-icing salts, the tree has long been used for amenity planting in towns and along roadsides.

[74] Compared with the other European species of elm, U. laevis has received scant horticultural attention, there being only eight recorded cultivars: In Russia other ornamental forms are recognized: f. argentovariegata, f. rubra, and f. tiliifolia.