According to Yano's Book for Maples, this cultivar was introduced (in Japan I presume) in 1978. Taking this into account it is surprising it is not as widely known and available as other more recent cultivars. The plant in the pictures comes from G. Maillot of France. The first picture was taken today and shows the unusual strong pink color that makes this cultivar so desirable. The second picture was taken late summer last year and shows the late season variegation. It is a late leafer and I planted it in the ground in dappled shade. Gomero
very nice colors, Gomero. Would love to add one to my variegate collection but have never seen it offerred over here. Thanks very much for introducing it to me.
Yes , interesting maple, quite a transformation from spring to fall, shape and colourwise. Leaf shape seems unusual, to me anyways. Very nice.
Gomero has very ably given background information on this lovely cultivar. Mine is late in leafing out in the spring, but it does form early leaf buds. It's maddening to see the buds and then have to wait for 6-8 weeks for something to happen. Spring color is brilliant. The first photo is of my Beni Kosode taken May 11, 2008, and the leaves are not as big as normal due to hard frosts in this area well into the first week of May. The second photo shows the interesting autumn color, and it was taken of the same plant on October 17, 2007. Mine is a young plant (now 3 years old) and it's in a pot. I bring it inside when a hard frost occurs in springtime. It spends it's day in bright filtered light.
I do love this cultivar but despair at its incredibly slow growth rate. I've had no problems with it, no die-back, but though I have had it for over 5 years, it still looks like a first-year graft. Still, it's delicate and very beautiful. mapledia
