Ulmus 'Louis van Houtte' (Syn. Ulmus 'Vanhouttei') is believed to have been first cultivated in Ghent, Belgium circa 1863. It was once thought a cultivar of English Elm Ulmus minor 'Atinia', though this derivation has long been questioned; W. J. Bean called it "an elm of uncertain status". It was first mentioned by Deegen in Ill. Monatsch. Gartenb. 5: 103, 1886. Its dissimilarity from the type and its Belgian provenance make the 'Atinia' attribution unlikely. The cultivar is named for the Belgian horticulturist and plant collector Louis Benoit van Houtte, 1810–1876.