The American Elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'Moline' was cloned from a wild seedling transplanted to Moline, Illinois, from nearby Rock River Valley in 1903 and propagated from 1916 by the Klehm Nurseries, Arlington Heights, Illinois.

The American Elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'Vase' was selected and propagated in the early 20th century by the Klehm Nurseries, Arlington Heights, Illinois, who advertised it at first as Ulmus americana 'Urnii', 'Klehms' American Vase-Shaped Elm', listing it, along with its stablemate Ulmus americana 'Moline', as a "novelty" in 1926, and describing both in some detail. Its original cultivar name, 'Urnii' – doubtful Latin – was changed to 'Vase' by Klehms by the 1930s, the tree also featuring as 'Vase Elm' in the catalogues of the Plumfield Nurseries, Fremont, Nebraska, from 1926, along with Klehms' 'Moline'. Vaughan's of Chicago marketed both from 1927. The Naperville Nurseries of Naperville, Illinois, marketed it from 1929 as 'Klehmii', 'Vase Elm', also introducing Klehms' 'Moline' at the same time.