I didn't realize that Acer griseum trees would be male or female, or as Acer griseum - Wikipedia says, they are Androdioecious: having male flowers on some plants, bisexual ones on others. I saw a group of four trees today at the edge of Stanley Park, two with a lot of samaras now in the winter, and two with no samaras. I just learned that a "distinctive feature" of Acer negundo is the "long chains of of keys hanging on bare winter branches" (Straley, Gerald B., Trees of Vancouver, Vancouver, UBC Press, 1992, p. 60). Surely it's just a curiosity that both trees with persistent samaras have three leaflets (or sometimes more, in the case of A. negundo). Presumably, "distinctive feature" means that it's not common. At least I can distinguish those two. Here is one of the male trees.
1st March 2021 and my new Acer Griseum arrived, I was already informed by text yesterday that it would. It was in a 10ltr pot and had a very healthy root system. An 8 year old tree. Around 7-7ft 6 inches tall with peeling bark already showing near the base of the trunk. Planted in a part of my front garden to receive full sun in a raised area to allow for water to flow away from the trunk. The bamboo cane will be removed in a week or two. I will update this thread over the coming years on it's progress. I'm so very pleased.
18th April 2021 and so it starts, I am so pleased to be able to post this here today. More to follow throughout the season.
On a city street, bark and seeds. (And there are many seedlings underneath in the immediate vicinity.)
"Nolite spem amittere", or "Nolite itaque amittere spem !", as my latin teacher would say when giving me back my paper... <LOL> Some might think that itheir griseum is a goner, but it's April 25th, and mine only beginning to bud out :
27th April 2022 and my Acer griseum is waking up. I'm always so stressed waiting for the buds to open. But I shouldn't be, as it's one of the very last to leaf out everywhere.
I don't know if it's because of the rain, but this morning, I saw some green where the bark of my acer griseum peeled off, it's the first time I've seen some green on the trunk : Compare with this photo that was taken on the 17th, from a slightly different angle :
Compared with other maple species that have softer leaves, this one seems to hold well in the heat, the leaves look perfectly healthy :
I thought it would be worth mentioning that the bark colors seem to be lighter and more "cinnamon" with hotter summers. (We know that older trees usually have light bark.) Certainly this is the most exfoliating I've seen at any one time, after an extremely hot and dry summer.
First year in the ground for my griseum and I also have a lot of exfoliating bark! (I read on the internet that this exfoliating excess bark is a sign of the tree's good health) I have a few yellow leaves probably due to heat waves.
11th May 2023 and its here at last. Always a worry wether it will leaf out. My last one died, but this one is so much stronger.