Acer buergerianum 'Nusatoriyama'

Discussion in 'Maples' started by mr.shep, May 17, 2006.

  1. mr.shep

    mr.shep Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    "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
     
  2. emery

    emery Renowned Contributor Maple Society 10 Years

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    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
     
  3. mr.shep

    mr.shep Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Location:
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    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
     
  4. Laurie

    Laurie Active Member Maple Society 10 Years

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  5. mr.shep

    mr.shep Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    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
     
  6. mjh1676

    mjh1676 Active Member Maple Society 10 Years

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    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??
     

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