Ulmo

Its flowers contain a highly appreciated aromatic nectar, harvested by introduced European bees and commercialized as ulmo honey (miel de Ulmo). The wood is light brown to brown, heavy, moderately firm, rather hard and quite resistant to decay. It is used locally for construction and very extensively as firewood. It grows well on the western coast of Scotland, UK, where several notable specimens exist, including possibly the most northerly cultivated example at Inverewe Garden. It dislikes cold winters. It can also be found in southern England and the island of Ireland. It has been planted in the North Pacific Coast of the United States.

Antibacterial properties of ulmo honey. Ulmo honey has been the subject of multiple peer-reviewed studies investigating its antibacterial activity. A 2010 comparative study by researchers at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland tested Ulmo 90 honey against medical-grade manuka honey (UMF 25+) and found that Ulmo honey had greater antibacterial activity against five clinical strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) than the manuka comparator, with minimum inhibitory concentrations of 3.1–6.3% v/v compared to 12.5% v/v for manuka. The two honeys showed comparable activity against Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Subsequent research has characterised the chemistry underlying this activity. Velásquez et al. …