I am new to this site and have enjoyed the informative post and the great photo forum. Thank you all for your contributions. I wanted to post some photos of an interesting Acer Japonicum seedling that I came across in my seed beds last year and did not get to photograph in the present leaf coloration. When I wanted to show the seeding to some maple enthusiast late last spring I discovered that the coloration had changed and all of the seedlings were your typical green. This year I watched the new growth and noticed one seedling that emerged with slight red coloration on the new growth and then turn to a mostly red with green veins as the days went on. The seedlings are grown in an unheated greenhouse in zone 7 under 50% shade cloth. My seed is collected from about 50 more mature cultivars that are planted in my gardens. When I first started I separated every cultivar for observation and found that with the close proximity of the trees many of the seedling looked like typical green palmatum as expected. Over the last 5 years I have only separated the seed by Palmatum, Japonicum and Dissectum. I guess that with the possibility of cross pollination this seedling may not be a true Japonicum, I am only going by the appearance. I garden with maples as a hobby and my seedling experience is based on my own observations and without any training or education. The photos attached were taken today 30 March and I first noticed the red about two weeks ago. Please note that there are two seedlings in this pot and the green leaves in the background are from the second seedling. I hope to be able to document the length of time the coloration last this year. Have any of you experienced this coloration in an Acer Japonicum? I have collected seed and grown seedling for about 12 years or so and this is my first occurrence of this coloration. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks, Ed
A lot of the Japanese maples are grafted, and what you get sometimes is not exactly as advertised, but I think it makes your tree a lot more interesting that way, but if you don't like it, I suppose you could try cilpping them, but I doubt it will stop them showing up. Also it just may be a variety/cultivar that you're unfamiliar with as there are now literally hundreds (if not 1,000's) of them around.
Nice plant :) now all you got to do is wait a while to compare with all other named japonicums, see if its different, growth habit, stable colouration etc..........who knows you may have a brand new plant........look after it, you might get rich (dont hold your breath though, its going to be years before it could be marketed as a new variety) best of luck oscar
Rima, I have many grafted maples in my garden and are familiar with a few of the cultivars. This plant is from seed collected from a tree in my garden and only grown for my interest. I am not aware of any red Acer Japonicums on the market and have not seen one since 1995 in Richard Wolff’s collection which seems to have been lost with his passing. I have seen this display now for two years and hope that it continues. Oscar, I have about 14 Japonicum cultivars in my garden and have around 100 seedlings growing. This is the first time since 1995 that I have seen this red color in a plant. I am not familiar with all of the cultivars that appear on the market lately and mostly have older cultivars. Each time a seedling germinates and lives for a few seasons I have a new plant but I have no interest in introducing any new cultivars. I feel that there are way too many people already taking care of this. I grow my seedling on to give them to people who visit my yard and admire my maples and are not familiar with cultivars and have no desire to spend the money to obtain them. If a particular seedling shows some unusual characteristics it is marked and I observe the tree for years. I have only found on tree that continually held these traits out of thousands of seedlings. As far as getting rich: I will just have to keep buying lottery tickets. Thanks, Ed
Ed, Look at Aka omote in the gallery. http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=7297&highlight=aka+omote It is not as red as you little seedling shows and the leaf form is quite different. The red becomes purple becomes green for the most part. I will suggest that Yasemin shows a high probability of being japonicum and it is quite a deep red/purple variety, but again, a different, but similar leaf shape. The red coloration and veinatioin on your plant is typical of some palmatum seedlings I have seen in their youth and I would expect it to dissapate with age. I would enjoy your continued updates.
Ed, After reading your post several times, I went out and looked carefully at my AJ Takinogawa and Vitifolium. The former leaves have a hint of reddish blush but nothing as dominant as your seedling. Vitifolium has slightly stronger blush of red but only on brand new leaves just as they open and this red seems to fade away as the leaf blade opens and flattens out. Your seedling leaves are much more deeply incised (like Green Cascade) Also, my japonicum leaf blades are flatter and ever so gently convex whereas yours look gently concave. Also, the venation is quite different with yours having deep veins. Japonicums are not my strong suit (if enything is) but yours looks very different from any I've seen. It is a beautiful seedling, and I hope it retains its exciting color and varieations. Thanks for shsring the picture.
Katsura, Like you indicated, similar to Green Cascade and likely a seedling of Aconitifolium?? Many japonicums have a transient red hue or tinge, O'taki, O'isami, Vitifolium--that is not uncommon when the leaves are unfolding, although it is with the larger leafed round leaf forms. Most of the dissected leaf japonicums do not show much more than green when they leaf out. So in that respect, to see this color on a more dissected leaf is interesting. Also, most reds in japonicums tend to appear more purple, so to have a red of this type is interesting, but I still suspect it won't hold with age. Ed, Do you know if Richard's plant ever had a name, if it was ever outlet to anyone and what the situation with it was?
Yweride, I would agree. Red Dawn does show characteristic flowering patterns for japonicum as well as other characteristics--in either case having a more palmatum/japonicum appearance than shirasawanum. It of course does not show the same leaf shape that Ed showed with his seedling.
I had observed the red tones on my Vitifolium when it was grown in a container and have not seen this trait since it has been planted in the garden. The likely seed source would be one of Green Cascade, Lovette, Oregon Fern, Aconitifolium, with the first three producing the most seed. I have about 12 other japonicums but they are either new one gal. plants or do not produce much seed. I collect about a 2 pound can of seed from my Lovette each year and never get on a ladder to get to the top. It seems like a waste of good seed, I just don’t have the room to sow any more. I have had good luck with japonicum seed in flats in the unheated greenhouse but have not noticed many in the garden mulch beds. I get thousands of palmatum in my mulch beds and in my grass and can not recall ever digging a japonicum seedling. The plant I observed at Mr. Wolff’s nursery was never sold to the best of my knowledge. I have a friend that visits the nursery that purchased the Wolff collection and he inquired about this tree and it is not in the collection. I also was at another supplier John Vermeulen and Son and heard mention of the plant come up in discussion among the staff. They had heard about this red japonicum but no one had seen it. The ironic twist is that my Green Cascade, Lovette and Oregon Fern all came from Mr. Wolff’s nursery. I agree with MJH that there is little chance that this display will continue. I have a new camera this year and will keep you updated with pictures as the season progresses. Thank you all for your input. Ed
Gil, I have been away and just got out to the greenhouse to check the plant. As I suspected the leaves are all green this year. It was far back on the tables and I had a hard time finding it. I did notice that a similar seedling from the same batch is showing red color this spring but I do not expect it to last. The other tree with three years was the longest I have seen this stay. I do get lots od seed produced on my japonicums and many other maples. Please let me know if you want to stop by in the fall and collect. Ed
Ed, Thanks for the offer. I'll wait until late summer to take you up on it. I've had a little success germinating a few shirasawanums and japonicums in my collection (1st time) so if they set many samaras I'll have my hands full for next year. I plan on attending your viewing. Gil
