"If I remember there is an all white maple, A. buergerianum 'Nusatori yama' (having just looked it up in Vertrees!) which I've never seen. He does say it is very weak and prone to scorch." The above is a quote that came from the Dogwood forum. Below is my response in regards to the Maple as referenced in the above quote. A clarification that this Maple turns allover white was in order for me to do all of this below. Dont ask me to do it again as this is all from memory of this Maple with my knowing it well enough and from my being around it for over 14 plus years. Technically, there were only two plants of Acer buergerianum 'Nusatoriyama' ever on the West Coast and neither plant was owned by Mr. Vertrees. Notice the spelling as Mr. Vertrees spelled it Nusitoriyama and the people that had the Maple spelled it Nusatoriyama. Among the two people that had the Maple I asked if Mr. Vertrees had ever seen either plant and the answer from both of the owners was, no! The photo in the second edition Japanese Maples book is of Don Kleim's Maple that was sent to him from Japan in 1962. That photo was originally sent to Oregon St. University by request from the then current Dean of the Forestry Department and then the photo was released by permission to be used in the book as per request to Mr. Vertrees. The Maple leaf emerges pink and as the leaf expands it will have a white overtone and then once fully expanded in bright sun will turn to an allover cream color, not a white at all and then will develop some ever so slight green highlights or markings during the Summer only, not really is a green overtone per say as there is not enough green in the leaf to speak of throughout the entire growing season either here where the old Maple resided or the cutting from this tree did in Hayward either where the second Maple was. There are plants online with this or the other spelled name but none of them are the right plant for Nusatoriyama as there is too much green in the leaves and the leaf shapes in the two smaller, side lobes are not the same as Koichiro Wada's old Maple. Nusatoriyama can handle a lot more sun than given credit for sun exposure but does better with some late afternoon wind protection when the leaves go to cream and even then when wind burned only the outer edges of the lobes become desiccated. The old Maple in Japan is the plant that is more sensitive to direct sun and is the one referenced in the Vertrees book that has had some bud failure and mold problems in the past. The leaves never do fade to white in a growing season here as the cream stage of color will next turn to gold before Summer and stay that gold coloration with only minute hints of green will be seen starting in Summer, nearest the palm of the leaf. By the end of Summer, the small flecks of green will again be absent. The new Summer growth will again be pink with a white shading as the leaves emerge and expand this time and then later turn to an allover cream. The Fall colors are rich golden tones in the older leaves to a rust red with a pink overtone in the late Summer growth leaves. It is not unusual at all for the old Maple here to have the top leaves be the rust red and all the rest of the leaves be a rich golden color. The Maple is far from being a weak grower as suggested in the book but what was projected in the Vertrees book is that it can be a real bearcat to grow in some areas. Ive been rather pleased with how this Maple performs well enough here with our 100 degree plus weather and makes a pleasant looking, spreading, full headed shaped tree. Mr. Don Kleim wrote most of the manuscript for the Trident Maples in the two Vertrees edition books and the information supplied by Don was later edited by Mr. Vertrees. Dons personal account of grafting this Maple was well documented in the book as he felt that for other areas to be successful growing this Maple that they might want to leave some green rootstock growth on the plant to ensure better food production from the leaves but in hindsight his Maple did just fine here the longer it became adapted. It is true this Maple is not a fast grower and does produce a lot of short twigs and branches but the old plant in 40 plus years in the ground was about 20 feet tall by 20 feet wide when it was carefully dug out of the ground to be transplanted to its new home, so it is not that slow a grower to be that size. In comparison the original Mino yatsubusa to come into the US in 1972 (ten years later) is, even today, only about 15 feet tall and about 20 feet wide. Each color phase this Maple goes through is distinct and to those of us that have seen the Maple go through these color transitions it technically it is not a variegate at all, not like Toyo nishiki and Goshiki kaede. The Maple that Mr. Vertrees confused as being Nusitoriyama as having the leaves turn almost totally white is another Maple entirely, although documentation and photos of each of the color transitions of both Maples are on file in a University in Japan and the written documentation and some photos of both Maples can be found in a US arboretum among others. That second Maple is still in the original Maple collection here. This "other" Maple is indeed a variegate and was sent to Japan as well as to Jermyns and never was propagated here in the US again. Nusatoriyama was the most hush-hush Maple of any that I know of until two years ago when the new owner of the old Maple made one arrangement with a propagator to have the Maple grafted only to ensure the plants survival and is not to be given or outlet to anyone, including to me. Although I did make mention that I felt one of the grafted offspring should go to Japan. No one knew anything about Nusatoriyama unless they came into direct contact with one of the three sources that went to extra lengths for many years not to tell anyone much of anything other than to Jiro Kobayashi, Sir Harold Hillier and later J.D. Vertrees for his book about Nusatoriyama. The two sources I know of one in Japan and the other in France may want to track down where the more complete documentation of their Maple is. The variegated form of theirs, which is the closest Trident Maple I know of to being a reticulated form that I have seen to date and as evidenced from their photos of their Maples had its origin and was selected out as a seedling selection from Nusatoriyama in Fresno, California, back in the mid 70's. Their form can indeed turn almost completely white and then the green veins will shortly show up afterwards in the leaves. It is also one of the rarest of all forms of Trident Maple and I was glad that someone in this forum pointed it out to me a while back of one of those sources having it. I knew about the other source having the variegated form at the time and made mention of it, so I have a pretty good idea where the Maple in Japan came from but I cannot be sure of where the source got his Maple in France. No matter at this stage, they are beyond fortunate to have their Maples as it is as this post will attest to for them.. A footnote: I have made my share of spelling gaffs with these two Maples also. I even had to go back and look at the labels on both plants a few years ago just to quit making the same mistake over and over. From time to time I still get them mixed up but this is how I know them to be spelled. That is my story and I am sticking to it. Call this a public service announcement. I am good for one of these every now and then but not often enough it seems. Jim
Hello Jim, Since I posted about the Cornus sport, I'll reply to thank you for the history and information. I'd love to see this plant sometime, although I'm not sure I am courageous enough to try and grow it, even given the opportunity. Interesting that in my Vertrees 3rd ed. he describes it as "not particularly beautiful or attractive," whereas your description leaves another impression entirely. Thanks. -E
Hi emery: There is an obtainable Maple that may work for you and it is called Wako nishiki. I was reminded of this Maple from somone in another and recently formed Maple forum that has posted some photos of the same plant that still exists in the collection. I would hope that photos of the Wako nishiki Maple in the other web site will be posted in this forum or links to those photos will be provided for others to see someday. The Wako nishiki Maple will look at one stage of the growing season very much like the seedling from Nusatoriyama. What easily separates those two Maples apart other than growth habit is that the side lobes of the seedling have rounded tips just like Nusatoriyama and Wako nishiki has the two side lobes with pointed ends. There is a fine line in what is a allover white and what is allover cream for color. For Maples the cream and white colors have been confusing to people for many years but when we see a Maple go from a white overtone to an allover cream is when we can see for ourselves just how white and cream are different and when they differ. We also have the reverse that is true for Kocho nishiki in which what appears to be a cream color can fade to white before the leaf will turn yellow. If we look closely an allover white leaf has some green in it somewhere or it will indeed scorch from most any warm to hot direct sun or from warm to hot winds. One of the forms of the old "Oregon Butterfly" is actually Kocho nishiki from Japan but few people know this as they have not seen the old form Maple in rather select collections here in the US or in collections and private estates in Japan. I'll look at the Dogwood thread again and see if I want to comment on that Dogwood that I also know and have been around. Interesting that in my Vertrees 3rd ed. he describes it as "not particularly beautiful or attractive," whereas your description leaves another impression entirely. Unfortunately, none of the current day authors have seen the right plant to make such an assessment. That comment was one of the edited areas from the original manuscript in the Nusatoriyama description in the Vertrees second edition book that was carried over to the Vertrees/Gregory 3rd edition book. It was due to that error in judgement and the editing of the original written material sent to J.D. that first led to a rift between Don Kleim and J.D. Vertrees that lasted for several years and also led to the section on Cork Bark Acer palmatum to be withdrawn from the person that was asked to supply that information and photos that he had written the documentation for those Maples. The latter section was given to me in 1989. That original manuscript now resides in a University in Japan that I hand delivered to them in September, 1990. Best regards, Jim
From Yano, Masayoshi. Book For Maples (Japan Maple Publishing Group 2003): Acer buergerianum 'Nusatori yama' (1882) This is a variegated old cultivar of A. buergerianum. The early spring foliage is red-orange, changing to white-green. The summer leaves are yellow-green to green, turning red to yellow. For photographs, the first of which is one of two in the book: http://ganshuku.cool.ne.jp/23_3nusatoriyama.html; http://www.maillot-erable.com/ACER_NUSATORI_YAMA-752.html.
What I find rather interesting is not only are the two Maples different in physical terms just in the side lobes alone, one with pointed tips and one with rounded ends, they are not the same color, nor are they the same Maple both named Nusatori yama. How about both gentlemen getting on the same page and see if they will reveal to us their sourcing of both plants, show us a photo of the entire tree, don't use false color this time as I may know both of these Maples just as they are. I believe I mentioned that the seedling during the growing season does look a lot like a Wako nishiki but once again we will see that Maple not being the same depending on who has it and what the Wako nishiki looks like that came in from Japan. What is nice this time around is that the Maple as shown on page 154 of the Japanese Maples book was J.D.'s photo of J.D.'s own plant. Did any of you ever see his Maples to know what were his and which ones were not his as shown in photographs and described in writing in the first two edition books? Acer buergerianum "Nusatori yama" Jim
Try this link: http://ganshuku.cool.ne.jp/23_3nusatoriyama.html The plant in this photo is much closer the the forum of Wako nishiki that I have seen than Maillot's plant. At least we get some true color from Yano's photo. And neither one is close to what we see in the Vertrees editions for Nursatoriyama. Funny how things get twisted around. Did both parties get mislabled plants for their collections? Were they so set on having the plant they took the closest plant they could get--at the rate both parties add plants to thier databases, I suppose that it is difficult to keep up with all the named seedlings and seedling selections. I wonder who the disservice is to in this situation: the plant, first and foremost, and second those that went to great lengths to bring the plant to the United States and then protect it here and in its place of origin. This is one of the most rare and choice maples in existence and the same situatation that plays out all to frequently with more common plants is being perpetrated here. If we know the origin of the plant in the Vertrees text and the manuscripts exist to validate it, why would two prominent people in maples want to obscure the real plant by using its name for seedling selections? We all make mistakes, but how could you make and honest mistake with such a unique plant??
