In 1640, the Earl of Camperdown in Dundee, Scotland, noticed a branch growing on the floor of his elm forest and grafted it to a Scotch Elm tree, producing the first Camperdown Elm. The Camperdown Elm will grow only on the root mass of a Scotch Elm, and because the tree is a mutant and cannot self produce, every Camperdown Elm in the world is part of the original and must be grafted to a Scotch Elm to get started. When the graft begins to grow, the Scotch Elm branches are cut off, leaving only Camperdown Elm. This tree depends on humankind to keep it alive as a species.