Hey guys/gals - So I was able to collect some seeds from a neighbor who was a tree collector, well she passed away and the new home owners cut down all the nice trees this lady had collected for decades. But I got a handful of what I believe to be is Acer Pictum seeds to germinate from one of her trees. I gave a few away but kept four or 5 for myself. Each one has completely different characteristics. One in particular stands out to me, can anyone confirm if this is pretty typical traits for Pictum seedlings. I’ve only grown these few trees of this species, I don’t have much experience with them. This one in particular is pretty wicked looking though , and I’m wondering if it’s normal for this species. The first two pics are the tree in question and the last one shows the difference between another one or two from the same batch of seed. Thanks in advance!
Looks like Acer pictum leaves to me. I can't get the seed to grow, so can't offer a photo of a young one.
Boy, that's the nightmare right there... Good on you for saving some seed at least. A. pictum has a lot of forms and subspecies. If what she had was labeled A. mono, that's now called A. pictum subsp. mono. The seedling looks in the right ball park for that, but it's too early to say much more about it, since seedlings from several species (including amplum and truncatum) might look pretty similar at that age. The good news is, however it turns out, it doesn't appear (although that may change) to have crossed with A. platanoides, the Norway maple. These are super promiscuous, and if there are some in the neighborhood it's pretty difficult to get pictum to come true. But, not impossible, and yours is off to a good start. So please send us some more pics throughout the year, and next year, and we can probably say more about it over time. Cheers, -E
Awesome ! It really was heartbreaking to see them all chopped down within 3 or 4 hours, luckily I was able to dig a handful of trees out before the tree workers showed up . I really appreciate the reply , I’ll certainly keep Yal informed- I was curious to see what others thought. I read that Pictum can appear bronze when leafing out in spring but there are little to no pictures online (that I could find) of this species as a seedling/ small tree, or leafing out for that matter…. I like that you used the word promiscuous to describe a tree, I’ll have to use that one! Thanks again!
I don't currently have any pictum ssp mono seedlings, but I do have two trees that come out with a couple of weeks difference. So the leaves on one are just open for a few days now. Here they are for you to compare against. BTW the two leaves in my avatar (is that what it's called) are different forms of pictum, the bronze one is ssp mono. I probably have some seedling pics somewhere, but no time to find them, sorry! Cheers, -E
Thanks ! I appreciate it! I just went out and checked mine out and snapped a few pics. Pictum really seems like a great species, they seem to perform pretty well here in central VA. I need to get an Usigumo too, looks like an amazing cultivar. Thanks for the help.
