 The tree is named for Sir Dietrich Brandis, the first Inspector General of Forests appointed to the sub-continent, and author of "Indian Trees" published in 1906.The name was earlier used by Schneider as the specific name for what was later sunk as a subspecies ("xanthoderma") of the Himalayan Elm "U. wallichiana".To add to the confusion, specimens of what was later named "U. chumlia" were treated as "U. brandisiana" by Augustine Henry.