Acer capillipes - University of Washington Botanical Gardens, Seattle, accessions 1999, 1971 (trunk receives direct sun for most of the day), 1947 (trunk is definitely shaded). This is one of the snake bark maples from the mountainous forests of Japan and is best planted in a somewhat shady site. Van Gelderen notes in Maples of the World that "it is a valuable garden plant and ... one of the best, hardiest, and most undemanding species of Acer."
In the past it has been remarked that the planting of assorted Sec. Macrantha maples at CUH (incl. first specimen shown here) was getting too much sun. Above comparison photos show effect on bark appearance. Tall, vigorous one in UBC Lam Asian Garden quite shaded as well. Van Gelderens also note capillipes is a good one to grow from seed, being easy and not apt to cross.
I think this is Acer capillipes, but if not, someone can tell me the name and we can have this moved. It's in a private boulevard planting; the owner got it as a gift and doesn't know what it is. It's showing the stalked buds that Douglas Justice pointed out on his walk as being distinctive for snake bark maples.
So those dots along the ribs on the underside of the leaves (2nd photo) are what Straley (Trees of Vancouver, 1992) describes, for A. rufinerve, as the "tufts of rusty hairs in the axils of the veins on the lower side of the leaves"? I thought Douglas Justice showed us those on his walk, but I didn't remember them being like that.
Would not surprise me if this were an example of Acer x conspicuum. Specimens of clones belonging to that cross have been sprouting up in the publicly accessible or visible landscape here. There is a whole group of not always clearly distinct wild species in Sec. Macrantha with a gallery of both intentional and spontaneous hybrids between them in western cultivation. Not a group with which shooting from the hip when encountering unlabeled specimens is always going to hit the target.
Re: Acer capillipes or rufinerve or x conspicuum Well we were hoping you'd have something to say, Ron, but we weren't thinking you'd come up with yet another name! I was thinking my posts and the replies should get moved to where they belong (maf, I was confused in my message to you - it wouldn't be a matter of renaming the thread), but since it's not clear where they belong, they may as well stay here, as comments about what can be confused with A. capillipes.
Open Science at the Maple Society | The Maple Society Acer capillipes che traduco in italiano per The Maple Society :-)
Well done Alex, I forgot to make the UBC post!!! But please reference the osi page Open Science at the Maple Society | The Maple Society rather than the direct link, it is better for our traffic management!
Ron, were you referring to the original poster's photos of mine? Are there Acer x conspicuum that do not have red bark? Almost the ones that come up seem to be the cultivar 'Phoenix' with red bark. Alex, is the original that you translated from available online?
Yes of course, on the Open Science page of the maple society: https://maplesociety.org/en-gb/open-science Scroll down the page until you come to the English version. All of the maple profiles are released first in English. That is why we prefer always linking to that page. And, that it drives traffic better. Wendy, the second picture of your post indicates capillipes, because you can see the peg-like structures on the bottom of the leaves. Next, there are Acer x conspicuum cultivars that don't have red bark. E.g. 'Elephant's Ear', or 'Mozart'. Third, I disagree that A. capillipes does not hybridize easily. It is difficult to find a capillipes on the market that is not a hybrid; the seed is almost always hybridized; I have been sold several maples as morifolium, pensylvanicum etc that seem in fact to be capillipes hybrids. So maybe it has to do with climate or garden, but in my experience it is just as promiscuous as the rest of the section Macrantha. -E