Forest · Amayas
Amayas Elm: a survivor of Dutch elm disease
The Amayas elm, in this Tartanedo hamlet at 1,246 metres, is a field elm with a girth of about 3.8 metres that survived Dutch elm disease, the blight that killed almost all large elms in Spain from the 1980s. A second elm beside it died. It is listed in the provincial register of notable trees.
- Municipality
- Amayas
- Province
- Guadalajara
- Altitude
- 1,246 m
- Field elm
- Survivor
- Tree of provincial interest
- 1,246 m
The village tree
In the centre of Amayas, a hamlet of Tartanedo on the Campo de Molina plain, stands one of the few ancient elms left in the Señorío. It grows at 1,246 metres, has a girth of about 3.8 metres, and is not very tall—about five metres—yet it has something almost none possess: it is still alive.
Dutch elm disease
Dutch elm disease is caused by an Asian fungus spread by bark beetles. It lodges in sap vessels and chokes off water flow. In Spain, the great epidemic broke out in the early 1980s, wiping out the vast majority of elms in town squares, fountains, and roadsides. The elm growing right next to this one died; the Amayas elm held out.
Protected
For that reason it is included in the catalogue of trees of provincial interest of Guadalajara. The story of the lost elms of the Alto Tajo is told in life returns.
Location
● Reference point · ● Villages · ● Places
Location diagram. Detailed map with tracks and names loads on zoom.
Reference villages: Amayas · Labros · Mochales · Villel de Mesa.
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