Rated 5 out of 5 'Columella' has a very high resistance to the European strain of Dutch elm disease.

Following the development and release of cultivars such as 'Columella' more resistant to Dutch elm disease, planting is no longer recommended wherever the disease is prevalent.

Guernsey Elm was also planted in large numbers across Amsterdam, but eventually replaced by the similarly fastigiate but much more disease-resistant clone, 'Columella' [1].

'Columella' featured in New Zealand government trials during the 1990s at the Hortresearch station, Palmerston North, but is not known to have been introduced to North America.

Ulmus 'Columella' is a Dutch elm cultivar raised by the Dorschkamp Research Institute in Wageningen from a selfed seedling of the hybrid clone 'Plantyn' sown in 1967.

In trials conducted by Butterfly Conservation in southern Hampshire, England, 'Columella' was the only cultivar to become distressed during the drought of 2006, shedding most of its foliage by early August; a trait possibly inherited from one of the tree's ancestors, the Himalayan Elm Ulmus wallichiana.