Acer palmatum 'Crippsii'

Discussion in 'Acer palmatum cultivars (photos)' started by HMBrown, Jul 15, 2013.

  1. HMBrown

    HMBrown Active Member

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    Shown before the RHS in 1903 by Messrs Cripps of Tunbridge Wells, UK, under the name Acer linearilobum purpureum gracile 'Crippsii' and received an RHS Award of Merit 1903 with the comment 'A very elegant, perfectly hardy Japanese maple, with slender deep crimson leaflets, but with a sad burden of a name.' It appeared in the Hillier's catalogue of 1914 as Acer palmatum 'Crippsii'.

    The red leaves are a late flush and serve to illustrate an interesting point. During the spring of 2013 young leaves were lanceolate linear with a toothed edge as can be seen here - but by July 2013 the leaves had changed to linear entire which seems to be the norm for mature leaves.

    (N.B. The Maple Ridge Nursery on-line says of 'Atrolineare', 'The late summer growth tends to have much wider lobes').

    The plant shown is SHHG 1976.4166 U taken 2 October 2012 (Sir Harold Hillier Gardens).
     

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  2. maf

    maf Generous Contributor Maple Society 10 Years

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    Hello and welcome to the forum. I was interested to read your article about 'Crippsii' in the summer edition Maple Society newsletter, thanks for posting a picture of the original form of this maple. For your information, in case you have not already seen it, I will quote the description from the 1971 edition of the Hilliers' Manual of Trees and Shrubs, which seems to tie in with your own research:
    What were the leaves like on the incorrect 2005 specimens of 'Crippsii' at Hillier Gardens? I have seen images on the web and in recently published reference material on Japanese maples that show small leaves with rolled up leaf-margins very like the cultivar 'Okushimo'. If so, it is not a long stretch of the imagination to get from 'Crispa', a recognised synonym of 'Okushimo', to 'Crippsii'.
     
  3. HMBrown

    HMBrown Active Member

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    maf, thank you for your reply. The misnamed plants' leaves at SHHG do indeed have curled edges.

    But you were ahead of me as I edge cautiously into the sophisticated UBC forums, with a subject which came to me serendipitously, and might be sensitive in some aspects.

    I planned to focus on pictures of the genuine plant on this forum.

    I have started two threads in the general maple forum "Acer palmatum 'Crippsii' ", and "Misnomer - NOT Acer palmatum 'Crippsii' " to try and untangle the puzzle. The latter has a picture of the imposter curled leaf (I will try and post a better picture one day). The former has a technical hitch you may be able to advise on - the digitised Newsletter article is not really readable unless full screen.
     
  4. HMBrown

    HMBrown Active Member

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    This picture of SHHG 1976.4166 U was taken 26 July 2013. It shows the fruit (it is not a reliable or heavy fruiter) and the fact that as this year's leaves have matured they have narrowed and become entire margined.
     

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  5. HMBrown

    HMBrown Active Member

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    Hallo again. I attach a current photo of immature fruit on the (UK) Hillier Gardens plant and have some questions (I am just a Volunteer and no expert).

    1. Has anyone else seen a genuine Acer palmatum 'Crippsii', i.e. a linearilobum, since my comments of last year?
    2. As last year, the fruit is somewhat horseshoe shaped. Is that reasonable, as I have not noticed that on any other palmatum?
    3. It seems to me that more heavily fruited branches, as shown, have smaller and more sparse leaves. Is that common? (The longest lobes have now reached 15cm).
     

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