Dutch elm disease
1
4.5
- noun
- /dʌtʃ ɛlm dɪˈziːz/
- Specialized
:
enfermedad del olmo holandés
- Dutch elm disease (Ophiostoma novo-ulmi), which arrived in the early 1970s, kills American elms (Ulmus americana) before they grow large enough.
- resistant to Dutch elm disease
Examples
-
Elias says, "The disease tolerance and superior horticultural characteristics of these two new cultivars make them ideal candidates to replace the millions of trees that have died as a result of Dutch elm disease."
Academic text (1996) -
They were selected and bred from Asian and European species that normally resist the Dutch elm disease (DED) fungus.
Academic text (1996) -
Dutch elm disease was first found in the Netherlands.
Academic text (1996) -
American elms were planted everywhere until the early 1940s, when Dutch elm disease spread rapidly.
Academic text (1996) -
Although neither Valley Forge nor New Harmony is completely immune to Dutch elm disease, both have unusually high levels of tolerance.
Academic text (1996) -
It has a V-shaped crown like the American elm, but is shorter and resistant to Dutch elm disease and the elm leaf beetle.
Academic text (1996) -
City dwellers have witnessed the devastation of handsome elm-shaded streets by Dutch elm disease; to them, the wisdom of mixing tree types and of placing them relative to the entire network is evident.
Academic text (1990) -
Foresters are especially anxious about the situation because they recall the devastating effects of two earlier infestations: Dutch elm disease and chestnut blight. -- University of California, Davis, press release, July 31.
Academic text (2000) -
Ohio is a lacebark elm selection that is moderately V-shaped, with excellent resistance to the elm leaf beetle and Dutch elm disease.
Academic text (1996) -
The trees met their match, however, in Dutch elm disease.
How Serious
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun is compositionally built from 'disease' (head) modified by 'Dutch elm', so a learner who knows the words can infer it is a disease affecting elm trees (with 'Dutch' indicating origin or association). Although it is a named, specific pathogen-driven disorder, the basic meaning is directly derivable from the constituents and therefore accessible to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Dutch elm disease got its name because it was first studied by scientists in the Netherlands who were trying to stop a fungus killing elm trees. So today the name means 'a serious disease that kills elm trees'.