My friend brought me back a nice present from Courson (one of the best plants fair in France) : acer palmatum Mikasa Nishiki. That's a nice plant but I am not sure it is a palmatum as It's labelled. I didn't find any Palmatum Mikasa Nishiki but Sieboldianum Mikasa Nishiki. The problem is that the picture I found don't look like my plant ! The nursery is quite reliable as well ! What do you think ?
Hi Christophe, In Yano's "Book for Maples" there are 2 pictures of sieboldianum 'Mikasa nishiki', and he specifies that the variegation starts out yellowish as you show, then becomes more white with time. The pattern doesn't match the greenish variegation you have in the older leaves, and as well the leaves are much more distinctly 9 lobed as we would expect from sieboldianum. So although the leaves more resemble palmatum than sieboldianum to me, perhaps it's just a young plant that hasn't found its true form yet. Or maybe it's a hybrid of some sort, Yano doesn't give a history of the plant. You'll need to observe it for a few years to know more, perhaps. Seems lovely though. The world check list doesn't have a palmatum 'Mikasa nishiki' although there is a 'Mikata nishiki', for which I haven't found a description. HTH -E
Talon's blog mentions Acer sieboldianum 'Mikasa nishiki' and provides a picture (3/4 way down the page): http://florawonder.blogspot.com/2012/12/species-of-maples-named-for-people-part.html Here is Buchholz plant page for Acer sieboldianum 'Mikasa nishiki': http://www.buchholznursery.com/plant_page.html?id=26d935 Then here is Maillot, with a good picture. Shows some of the greener leaves along with the variegated. http://www.maillot-erable.com/en/acer_mikasa_nishiki-663.php I see many similarities, but nothing exact to yours. Sometimes varieties with variegation patterns like this tend to be unpredictable, where no two leaves have the same pattern and some are missing a lobe or have shortened and distorted lobes. Maybe like Emery indicates, your tree may need more time to develop. Regardless, one thing I know for certain is that it's beautiful. You have a very thoughtful friend with good taste!
Thank you both for your comments. As Emery mentionned, there is a palmatum Mikata Nishiki which one is on the catalogue of the nursery where my plant was bought. I'm wondering if it has not mislebelled : an "s" for a "t". I am going to give a phone call to the nursery for making sure.
I've just given a phone call to Choteau. The plant was mislabelled (on the catalogue too) : it's sieboldianum Misaka Nishiki.
