This cultivar is vigorous and forms a small upright tree to about 10 feet (here in N. CA). The red-purple color holds well in full sun and becomes a brillant orange in fall. Red color is brighter in the full sun. In shade like many red culitvars Beni shi en develop a red-green coloring.
Re: A. palmatum Beni shi en Here are a few photos of the leaves on my young tree. It is just starting its second full season after grafting. I have one seen the thicker more uniform lobes that are shown by robert in the photo above. The lobes on this tree actually became more slender and more divided this year. Some of the later season growth can be more atypical with some cream colored veriegation and some curvature to the lobes. The tree seems to maintain a the same base leaf color of a pink-burgundy for the majority of the season.
Re: A. palmatum Beni shi en Here is a great link to a wholesaler photo of the plant. This what I sense the plant will look like when it is older. http://www.stanleyandsons.com/productdisplay.cfm?product=ACR 1655
Re: A. palmatum Beni shi en This is an excerpt from a post I originally made a few days ago in the 'Tiger Rose' thread. I do not know what to tell people as now I will have to go see a great friend of mine in Oregon and see what his Maple looks like as I am confused with this plant. The books say it is a seedling selection from an atropurpureum and if we look closely at the photos of Robert's and Michael's Maples we are seeing what appears to be two different plants and only one of them seems to have atropurpureum heritage and it may not be the right Maple for 'Beni shien'. When the person that named the Maple cannot tell us what the seed bearing parent was and whether the seedling came about from controlled conditions in which only seed from the same parent were grown together and not mixed in with other seed collected from other Maples, we invite consternation to come about resulting from some of us being rather confused. Most of the people I hung around with knew the parent of the seedling as those seedlings were all grown separate from any others. If we want to have some semblance of having pure line seed or credibility with others, then we have to act like it if we want to have a verified seedling for naming is how the game used to be played. For selling what we have now are a host of nurseries selling names of Maples but so few of them are true to name Maples. We will soon have a ton of Maples to arrive from Japan and I personally am not looking forward to sorting them all out as seedlings raised from old Maples that I once knew and still know and forms of other Maples rather than bona fide "new" Maples. Most of you will not care as you are placing too much emphasis on buying the names of the Maples, not selecting the plant itself but where I get even or when people will start to believe me is when several of these Maples do not stand the test of time, live for 10-15 years for you and then many of you may finally be brought back down to Earth. You wanted the new name and you got it and then later lost it whereas I have the old Maple and it is still alive! Jim
Re: A. palmatum Beni shi en Here is a friend's 'Beni shi en', photos made 5-11-05. This patented cultivar was introduced into the trade by my friend Harold Johnston and came from an Acer palmatum f.atropurpureum branch sport. Note the variegation along the edge of the twisted leaves. I believe this occurs with some maturity.
Re: A. palmatum Beni shi en variegation I have five medium sized plants 6-8 feet tall in sun and shade. What I have found is that my plants in the shade exibit the variegation to a more noticable degree than the plants in the full sun. Small plants all exibit the variegation but it is very slight and hard to notice unless you know what you are looking for. Once you see it you think to yourself...of course..there it is! But as I said, it is a very slight variegation..but none the less very nice. robert
This is my 'Beni shi en' photo taken April 25, 2007 in the Siskiyou mountain area. The tree is planted in full sun and appears to be flourishing and the variegation is pronounced.
I am about to order this cultivar. It appears to be a good, unique cultivar that is especially suited to the climate down here in Louisiana, probably because it was found in Alabama. I am looking forward to getting it soon.
It's one of those trees that only a maple collector could like. Mine exhibits all the weird characteristics as mentioned above and then some. Variegation, many different leaf sizes and shapes, I do think that it is a very cool tree.....but definitely on the odd side.
Finally got my Beni Shi en in today...it has been muchly waited for! It was rather cramped in the box with 2 other liners so it is not looking it's best right now, but here it is. One picture shows the one and only very fat and more-like-a-normal-maple leaf on it so I hope that it doesn't become a reversion in the coming years. Somehow I don't think that it will, though. Definitely a weird, but very cool maple. Seems very vigorous to me so I hope that it stays that way!
Thanks Cirque! I'm really happy because it is a liner from Eastfork which was a VERY good deal, to put it lightly. How big is yours? Can you post a pic. of your whole tree? David
David, My 'Beni shi en' looks to be about the same size as yours, but it really has had a lot of good growth this year. Seems to be a fast grower. Take a look at the leaf shape of the new summer growth. Really distinct from all others I have. Cirque
Cirque it is really cool! Yours looks about a year older (the growth is thicker) but other than that, the size is about the same. I agree--it's grown a lot this year and is growing again right now. Next spring I'll post some pics. when it grows bigger and prettier. David
nice little maple, does very well with the sun and doesn't seem to show if its been a bit thirsty like some of the other maples i have. cant wait to see how this thing does in a few years.
I really like this JM. I've moved mine around probably too much. At first I had it in too much sun and its leaf edges burned. So then I moved it to a place that is too dark for it, and I haven't gotten the variegation so important to this cultivar. This year I'm trying for a medium-exposure site to see if it will do better there. Location is everything, and I've yet to find the right one for this tree.
I was looking for a very unique tree for a spot that opened up in my yard. I have a weeping cherry tree that is mostly dead and will be cut down. I have done some research and decided on Beni Shi En to go in its place. I order this large tree from Conifer Kingdom today but it's not scheduled to ship to me until September so I can get the other tree out of the way and the space cleared out. I am very excited about this cultivar and didn't mind to spend the extra coin on a larger tree as it will make an immediate impact in the landscape. WAS INFORMED TODAY THIS TREE WAS NOT AVAILABLE. :(
"Beni shi en" I feel like I'm looking through a Kaleidoscope with this one! Fall colors are amazing! So glad I added this cultivar to my collection. If spring colors and varigation live up to the pictures I've seen online...it is on its way to becoming one of my favorites!
