The Dutch hybrid elm cultivar Ulmus × hollandica 'Groeneveld' was cloned in 1949 at the De Dorschkamp Institute, Wageningen, and released in 1963 in response to the earlier, less virulent form of Dutch elm disease that afflicted Europe shortly after the First World War. The cultivar was derived from a crossing of Dutch clones '49', (originally believed to be an English Wych Elm Ulmus glabra but later identified as another example of Ulmus × hollandica) and '1', a Field Elm Ulmus minor found in central France and marketed by the Barbier nursery in Orléans.