Re: Acer buergerianum 'Mino yatsubusa' Below are some of my crude photos I have along with me here (I am away from home) of my Acer buergerianum 'Mino yatsubusa'. This Trident Maple was originally imported from Japan into the US in 1972. The original cutting grown Maple is still alive and currently resides in a private garden. 'Mino yatsubusa' was not seen anywhere in the US until 1980 when Don Kleim of Henderson Experimental Gardens gave two very young, grafted plants (3 year old grafts) to two grower/nurserymen in Canby, Oregon, to be evaluated by them exclusively and grown on. It was several years later that this Maple was outlet to anyone else in the US for propagation purposes. The section on page 151 of the Vertrees 2nd edition Japanese Maples book was supplied, as per request, by Mr. Don Kleim and edited by Mr. Vertrees. 'Mino yatsubusa' was real tough to propagate until grafted onto 'Simonii' Trident. No other rootstock seemed to work well for this Maple for a number of years. I do not know all of the specifics of where the 'Simonii' Trident Maple originated from but I do know this Maple became the standard rootstock for most all specialty Acer buergerianum on the West Coast for a number of years. This rootstock is not to be confused with Acer semenovii that was later used exclusively as a rootstock for the dwarf forms of Trident Maples in very select nurseries on the West Coast, most notably Maple Wood nursery in Placerville, California. The first two photos were taken 6 weeks earlier than the three other photos. As we can see the initial growth was rather vigorous, larger in size than usual in most years. Bear in mind our trees grown here are larger in size as well as our leaf sizes tend to be larger than anywhere in Oregon. The middle three photos show the newest growth scaling down in size but still a little larger in size and wider in the lobes than normal. If this Maple had been stressed a little the leaves will scale down to half the size of the newest growth as seen here. Each successive cycle of new growth will have smaller leaf sizes as the growing season progresses. This Trident grown here in lots of sun will turn a brilliant, almost illuminating deep scarlet red in the Fall with only the shaded interior leaves turning a golden orange color. Grown in morning sun here with afternoon shade the Fall colors generally will be an even shade of a light to strong golden orange with the exterior leaves turning scarlet. The more sunlight we give this Maple during the growing season the deeper and richer scarlet red we will see in the Fall. The last two images are of my 'Simonii' Trident. I realize there may be some confusion and doubt in the accuracy of the name but that is what Don Kleim called the Maple. No one I knew involved in Maples through discussions I attended with Don argued with him about the name either. They all seemed to know this Maple rather well. This Maple when allowed to grow was extremely popular for bonsai enthusiasts as the leaves will scale down to fingernail size and smaller in a bonsai pot rather soon in the plants age and development. These Maples just flew out of the nursery when they were offered for sale as bonsai plants but were only offered for sale to bonsai specialists through regional bonsai club and bonsai chapter affiliate meetings held at the nursery. As a matter of fact, my plant had been in bonsai pot for about 5 years. The leaves at the time I bought it were no larger than fingernail size then. I took the Maple out of the pot and placed it in a 5 gallon container for almost 8 years and then planted it in the ground in 1990. The Maple now is over 35 feet tall. Jim
Hi YWERIDE, I am an avid grower of Bonsai trees in Florida. I participate in maintaining the large Bonsai tree collection at The Morikami Japanese Bonsai Garden in Delray Beach, Florida. There are several northern trees that grow successfully in Florida. One that I find rewarding is the Trident maple. Your article on the Mino Yatsabusa leads me to believe that this would be a fine addition to our collection and to mine, as well. Please tell me where I can obtain specimens of this tree. Thank you for your assistance. Ron Kessler ronlene@bellsouth.net
