Acer palmatum 'Aeken Ie's'

Here are some shots of Acer palmatum 'Aekan Ie's'. It is the linearilobum form in these pictures. I grafted a few of these in the summer of 2002 from wood that I got in Atlanta, Ga.. It is said that this cultivar is an improvement over 'Red Pygmy'. It appears to have broader leaf segments than 'Red Pygmy'. All of these pictures were made in June 2003.

 

Aekan Ie's

Here are some pictures made today,Wed. 4-14-04.

 

'Aekan Ie's' stepping out of the shower

Here are a couple of shots of 'Aekan Ie's' that I made on 7-1-04 just after a cloudburst. She looks like she just stepped from the shower.

 

Acer palmatum 'Aekan Ie's'

Are any of you out there growing this tree? I really like these thread leaf trees and this one looks like it is going to be very nice. I wish this tree had been grafted onto stock with a similar color bark.

Kent

 

Re: Acer palmatum 'Aekan Ie's'

The Aekan Ie's Maple is listed in the current
Stanley & Sons 2005-2006 wholesale nursery catalog
on page 7. Below is the description of the Maple
in the Stanley & Sons catalog:

"New! A linearilobum type leave that is dark purple
black. Plant makes a shrub like 'Red Pygmy' but
better more horizontal. Even the bark is a dark
purple black. Very limited supply. FULL SUN.
Zone 5."

Elmore had already started a thread with the same
Maple but with a different spelled name. As we can
see Elmore alludes to this same spelling of Acer
palmatum 'Aekan Ie's' when he writes about the
plant..

Acer palmatum 'Aeken les'


One other note: to maintain a sense of accuracy
within the Maple Photo Gallery format, this thread
probably should be moved into the Acer palmatum
cultivars (photos) subforum.

As far as a red bark scion grafted onto a green
rootstock, this "new marriage" has been happening
much more often as of late than it was in the past.

Jim

 

Re: Acer palmatum 'Aekan Ie's'

Hi Jim,

One of my favorite growers up out of Yamhill, Oregon just got this plant last spring and I am interested to see what he thinks of it. I am not sure that I will get one when and if they are available, but he seemed happy to have it.

Now, for the very short purpose of my post. Do you see the way the leaves droop on Kent's maples? I find this to be a little unusual, although not unique. The length of the lobes and the way they hang seems to separate this maple from some other red forms. The similarity came to mind when I looked at Kent's photo again this morning and likened it to the 'Enkan' I got last spring. Dark bark, long-lobed drooping leaves--very similar.

Here is a link: http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=7098&highlight=Enkan

Look at the second set of pictures, the one on the right.

The bark of Ekan does not seem to have as much red in it, but they seem similar. Just and observation. what we need is a red linearlobum that will hold its color, Enkan won't and I bet Kent's maple didn't either. I will still take an Atrolineare or a quality Red Pygmy over the newer introductions. In my eyes, it would take some serious quality to introduce and new Linearlobum, and although we are seeing some new ones, I don't think they are separating themselves.

 

Re: Acer palmatum 'Aekan Ie's'

Hi Michael:

The old 'Filifera red' as it was sold in select circles in
the nursery trade held its color well for most of the
year, even for us here. It along with 'Filifera purpurea'
and the 'Filifera green' all had green bark color. True
form 'Atrolineare' was available later in the nursery
trade and came to us out of Oregon.

I think there is some confusion as well as some lumping
going on when it is convenient in that I am seeing what
appears to be Scolopendrifolium in the 'Enkan' photos.
I like the old 'Scolopendrifolium rubrum' and Robert of
Mendocino Maples shows a good example of the old
'Scolopendrifolium' form that we also had in the nursery.
The orange tones is a dead giveaway for it but the cup
shape in the lobes is another sign of Scolopendrifolium.

Acer palmatum 'Scolopendrifolium'

If you look at your 'Atrolineare' you will also see the cup
shaped leaves. 'Filifera purpurea' is a true linearilobum
in the leaf in comparison.

Acer palmatum 'Atrolineare'

'Red Pygmy' never colors up well for us here even in the
Spring which is why we preferred 'Villa Taranto' for the
colors that Maple would provide for us during a growing
season. That and the fact that 'Villa Taranto' here is a no
muss, no fuss plant in that we can grow it in shade, full
sun, face it directly into hot afternoon winds and it takes
a beating and keeps on going for us here. The old form
of 'Scolopendrifolium' did as well for us, whereas the
purple red 'Scolopendrifolium rubrum' does not like our
heat and hot winds. 'Atrolineare' does not like hot winds,
neither does the old 'Red Spider' that supposedly came
from Canada through Goddard. 'Red Spyder' came from
Don Kleim and is a seedling selection of 'Koto no ito'
and can handle the heat with some late afternoon wind
protection. Which came first the y or the i ('Red Spyder',
'Red Spider'? The y did but was only propagated for very
select collections here, in Oregon and in Japan. Never
was sold per say at the nursery but a few bonsai guys
got some from Don.

What I like so far with the 'Aekan Ie's' aside from the
spelling of it (if it came out of Japan then the "Aekan"
is misspelled) is that it reminds me a lot of the old 'Aka
shime no uchi shidare' with the growth habit and the
cascading nature of the ends of the lobes. The bark
color is very nice for this one. Seems more intense
in color than 'Aka shime no uchi shidare'. 'Aka shime
no uchi' has green colored bark.

I like both 'Enkan' and this Maple from what I am seeing
so far but we need to know more of both Maples as to
how well they will hold up over time grown in various
locations.

Jim

 

Re: Acer palmatum 'Aekan Ie's'

MJH, the color on this maple of mine holds all season long. This pic was taken in late August here in St. Louis MO. It has been very hot and dry all season and the color looks very good with very little scorch. I have had this tree for 3 seasons now and the color has been the same every year, all season long. I can't get any color at all out of 'Red Pygmy'. Another good strap leaf variety I have is 'Red Willow'. It is a pretty large plant but the color on it holds all season also and I am growing it in full sun.

Kent

 

Re: Acer palmatum 'Aekan Ie's'

Kent,

Sorry for insulting your plant. I was just making speculation based on the color I saw on some of the leaves near the bottom and on the periphery of the tree, they appear to show a good deal of green that has come up in the leaf. This is similar to other red trees of this nature. Also, the red coloration now looks like it has come up on a pretty faded red. The red color you show now sure looks a lot like fall. I was just speculating that if I was to grow the tree here that it might perform like many of the others. I am glad you have had good luck with the tree, that encourages me to try it.

Jim,

I see what you mean by the cupping. Is there a group that you consider having more of a plamate leaf and one that is more of a true linearlobum. Koto no it comes to mind as having thinner lobes, of course there was the koto no ito komachi and now the Fairy Hair and the Filifera you mention. So then we put the Scolopendrifolium derivities together we have the plants that tend to have lightly larger lobes. Will these then also throw out more palmate shaped and atypical leaves? That seems to be the case.

Since Aekan Ie's has red bark it would be likely that it come from a red bark parent, or at least most likely. So if both forms of Ao shime no uchi have green bark and the forms of Filifera as well as any plants derived from Koto no ito, then where does the red bark originate? Enkan has dark bark, but it is still green at the base.

In looking at many of the plants mentioned here, they don't seem to differ greatly from scolopendrifolium in leaf form.

 

Re: Acer palmatum 'Aekan Ie's'

Michael, I'll get back to you on this in a little more
detail if that is what you want but I may want to do
it away from the forum. I am into Maples that
a lot of people have never seen, some areas of the
world never have had, so I am on an island all by
myself again but hey, even loners are not always
alone as I have a few backups to help out if need
be.

I have to reserve judgement on some of the newly
named linearilobums as they are too similar to some
Maples I've been around in the past. Our worst fear
years ago was that an old Maple would come back
into the hands of nurseries and collectors as a new
name.

Andre made mention a while back of petiole colors
and their importance in the identification of some
Maples. Bark colors are just as important when we
want to separate out similar appearing groups of
Maples such as the linearilobums and the lumped
in Scolopendrifoliums. The Scolopendrifolium
name is somewhat ambiguous but it didn't used to
be as a variety, as there is a form of the lobes and
the number of lobes that the name represents but
we can see some examples of the linearilobum
group with the cupped shaped lobes having seven
and sometimes nine lobes as opposed to five for
the true form variety scolopendrifolium. Then in
regards to bark color that can go from red to green
in a growing season we also have twig color in
which the Maple will have green bark but can have
red twigs for most of the growing season and then
have the twigs turn a golden color, a yellow green
or green and some can stay red but will fade to a
lighter shade of red as the year progresses.

Yes, there are various forms of linearilobums and
'Red Spider' and 'Red Spyder' are good examples
of two of them. One will start out with a palmate
shaped leaf and then as the year progresses the leaf
will change shape and scale down in size but also
the lobes themselves will shrink down and become
possibly threadlike in some cases. 'Koto no ito' can
produce a palmate leaf in the Spring and then later
in the year the leaf can be a stringy linearilobum
by Summer which is the most visible and pronounced
change we can see. The second group will start out
as a linearilobum, even the new vigorous growth will
have a linearilobum shape but is closer to being a
scolopendrifolium in shape for leaf size but the lobes
will later scale down and become much smaller in
size and will look like a linearilobum and 'Koto ito
komachi' is one of these. The third group will start
out as a linearilobum and will stay that way and 'Koto
ito komachi yatsubusa' is one in this group.

Give me some time to remember a certain variety
name for the true ribbon leaf Maples as it applies
to the third group mentioned above that also includes
'Filifera red' and 'Filifera green' but does not apply
to 'Filifera purpurea' as it falls into the second group.
Really, old botanical varieties such as palmatipartitum
of which 'Shime no uchi' falls into this category has
been years removed from people's memory banks,
apparently even mine as well..

Jim

 

Re: Acer palmatum 'Aekan Ie's'

Anyone growing this plant care to share any new observations? Haven't figured out if it prefers a sunny spot or it likes to chill in the shade. Not much of a spring flush yet far leafier than last year.

 

Re: Acer palmatum 'Aekan Ie's'

I am growing mine in a pot so it has been in several different situations. It has performed the best in filtered sun or morning sun/aftenoon shade.

 

Re: Acer palmatum 'Aekan Ie's'

RK,

That plant looks happy. How long has it been in a pot? How often have you potted it up?
How do you handle winter protection?


Thanks for info.

Gil

 

Re: Acer palmatum 'Aekan Ie's'

I've had it in a pot for about 5 years. Every couple years I remove it and reduce the root volumn and then put it back in the pot. For the winter it goes into an unheated garage.

 

Re: Acer palmatum 'Aeken les'

This photo of my Aekan Ie's was taken May 8, 2008. In my garden, the Aekan Ie's seems to have a darker, more purple color than my Red Pygmy, but I'll have to observe both trees much longer to say any more. My Aekan Ie's is relatively new to me.

 

Re: Acer palmatum 'Aekan Ie's'

Thanks for info RK.

 

Re: Acer palmatum 'Aekan Ie's'

rk,

as a fellow st. louisan, curious why you put them in the garage in winter - have you had bad luck with leaving them out. A bit disconcerting given that most of mine are in ground, and the bigger containers would be a challenge to move inside.

 

Re: Acer palmatum 'Aekan Ie's'

In the ground they are fine. In containers above the ground they will suffer root damage when temps drop below 16 degrees.

 

Re: Acer palmatum 'Aekan Ie's'

I haven't got a garage here, nor is there any place to bury the pots. My trees have survived like this for a while. I suppose I'm getting some winter root damage however I do get a very good spring flush.

Here's a dozen plants that do fine in pots with very minimal winter protection. I'm Z7 used to be Z6. We got close to 0F once in a while. It goes below 10F every winter. I guess we don't get some of the extremes you get in St Louis winters.

Birds and squirrels are more threatening than weather!

1-'Mikawa yatsubusa' 2-'Caperci Dwarf'* 3-'Red Dawn' 4-'Hogyoku' 5-'Koto no ito' 6-'Katsura' 7-'Aka omote' 8-'Osakazuki' 9-'Junihitoe' 10-'Johin' 11-'Moonfire' 12-'Palmatifolium'

* new plant

 

Re: Acer palmatum 'Aekan Ie's'

Here are two pictures of one I picked up last year as a gallon. Does not seem to grow up, but has gotten denser. This was supposedly grafted in 04. Little dieback this winter.

 

Re: Acer palmatum 'Aekan Ie's'

Nice eg,

I am a fan of this plant. Its got a unique character. The form is refined/dignified.


Very slow for me.

 

Re: Acer palmatum 'Aekan Ie's'

What I especially admire about Aekan Ie's are the especially long lobes and the dark purple/black color. This photo was taken May 8, 2008, and the plant is situated in an area with filtered light in the morning and blazing hot afternoon sun for 2-3 hours.

 

Re: Acer palmatum 'Aekan Ie's'

Just got in a nice one from Topiary Gardens. This little guy looks really cool!

K4

 

Re: Acer palmatum 'Aekan Ie's'

Anyone getting a late season flush on this plant?

 

Re: Acer palmatum 'Aekan Ie's'

nope. Only linearlobum to launch was Red Spider. Beni Otake got some terminal buds a month ago and has not moved. A couple of others,no action. It has been a weak secondary growth season for me for many culitvars.