Acer palmatum 'Ryusen'

Acer palmatum 'Ryu Sei' is also known as 'Millenium Green' since it was introduced in 2000. It comes from the Saitama Prefecture of Japan, according to Masayoshi Yano (see page 256 of his "Book for Maples"). The plant has a totally weeping habit. The spring colors seen here (photo taken May 10, 2007) are said to turn deep green for summer, then orange-to-red for autumn.

 

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There already seems to be some confusion as to how to spell the name for this guy, or maybe what the name is. I've seen several nurseries calling it 'ryu sen' rather than 'ryu sei'. I hope this gets figured out because I think 'ryu sen' is a yellow orange spring colored upright:
http://ganshuku.cool.ne.jp/23_3ryusen0893.html

I also find it interesting that the name is a repeated name (just in a different order). So if 'seiryu' is blue-green dragon, does that make this tree dragon blue-green? :)

I'm trying to get ahold of of one of those trees...regardless of what it is called. Where did you get yours?

 

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Plant shown looks like a pot of ivy, with those few draping branches.

 

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Regarding the name, Yano lists the cultivar as "Ryu sei" and gives "Millennium green" as the synonym for it. Since the distributor for the cultivar is M. Kobayashi and it is clearly a Japanese plant, I would tend to stick with the Japanese name for it. I, too, have seen alternative spellings, however, and think many of them are simply due to sloppy transcribing of names.

In response to Ron's assessment that my photo just looks like a pot of ivy, I think perhaps he might be in need of an opthalmologic adjustment in his glasses. I placed the cultivar in a high pot to show its rather dramatic weeping habit. Previously I had it in the ground on a steep slope, but it didn't show well there and so subsequently I placed it in a pot where the weeping traits could be more clearly shown and appreciated.

 

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After researching a bit more, I'm starting to lean towards the 'ryusen' spelling. I have contacted one of the distrubitors who have talked directly to M. Kobayashi and they indicated that 'ryusen' was correct.

This was the response:

"the proper name is 'Ryusen'. It is listed on my license agreement with ItSaul Plants, LLC as Acer palmatum 'Ryusen' PPAF. It translates roughly as 'falling waters' or 'flowing river'. I have seen it listed as 'Ryusei' in 'Book for Maples', a japanese book by Masayoshi Yano, but this is not correct. I have met Mr. Kobayashi from Kobayashi Maple Nursery, who found the plant and named it. He is the son of Jiro Kobayashi who selected 'Jiro shidare'. Mr. Kobayashi says that particular book has many mistakes and is generally not considered an authoritative text.

Brian"

Regardless, I just know that I want one.

 

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To mattlwfowler: You clearly have better contacts than I do, and I will go with your spelling of this cultivar's name. The name on the tag I got with the plant was "ruu sei" which was clearly wrong, and then I went to Yano's book and found the plant spelled "ryu sei" thinking Yano had the authorative spelling. It's really a shame that there is so little consistency in the naming and spelling of these cultivars world-wide, since it leads to so much confusion. Peter Gregory has a huge task ahead of him in sorting all this out. At any rate, thank you for delving into the background of this cultivar and for sharing your information. Yes, you should indeed find one. It is a conspicuously weeping variety which grows down and out, and it's best shown on a steep bank or in a high pot. I tried planting it in one of my steep banks and found it didn't show well (maybe because of all the other maples there), however, but in a pot it looks just wonderful. If I had a nice high berm or ledge, I'd try planting it there. It's a lovely cultivar. Visitors marvel that it's a maple.

 

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Well this took several emails and some grapevine contacting, but hopefully it is correct information. If I find anything to disprove (or to further prove) its name I'll let ya know.

 

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My first 'Ryusen'...assuming this is the proper spelling.

I intend to stake it up fairly high since it doesn't look like it will reach any significant height without some help. The habit seems graceful so far. I suppose time will tell as to whether or not it is a worthy plant.

 

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The real interest for this cultivar, as Mapledia said, is its extreme weeping habit. Leaves are just the run-of-the-mill green palmate leaves which, I hope, will give nice Fall colors. Picture taken April 27, 2008.

Gomero

 

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hi Gomero where is the source?

 

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Ciao Alex,

My source is in a different continent but maybe it is already offered in Europe. Just ask around the usual suppliers.
By the way I saw some old plants of this cultivar at Tsukasa Nursery and it really remains weeping, truly unique look.
And Fall colors are nice....

Gomero

 

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Here is a close up of 'Ryusen' leaves from April 20. The leaves are similar to that of Jiro shidare, but on average 'Ryusen' has 7 lobes instead of 5. The spring foliage is a brighter green than 'Jiro shidare' (somewhat difficult to describe but it seems to glow, perhaps similar to the spring coloration of Mikawa yatsubusa). The leaves also have a tendency to hold themselves on a plane to some degree. The habit is possibly a stronger cascade than any other palmatum. I don't have all of the dissectums, but so far I haven't found any that match the pendulous character of this tree.

 

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o thanks! or better many thanks!i found this in E.U.

 

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:-( is out of stock...

 

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Here are photos of mine in august. It is a very pretty tree.

 

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this is my Ruy sei is from Guy Maillot ;the graft is "high"about 50cm very beautiful the new leaves are ligth green !

 

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here is the fall color for 2011

 

Link to plant patent for Acer palmatum 'Ryusen':
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/PP18501.html

There can be no doubt that 'Ryusen' is the correct spelling, but many nurseries still list it as 'Ryu Sei'.

 

Ryu sei is Japan version?

 

I first saw this cultivar at the 2007 Maple Society meeting in Atlanta GA. and knew that I would have to find one for the garden. I located one and have been growing it in a pot to enjoy the strict weeping habit as my garden is almost entirely flat land. At my spring maple gathering in 2009 I was able to purchase a Ryusen that was staked upright to about 5 feet (see 2009 photo). I planted it in one of my raised beds in the back and placed a stake up to about eight feet. In less than two years the cultivar has passed the eight foot mark(see 2011photo). I love the form of this tight weeping palmate cultivar and at first trimmed the branches as they hit the soil level. I then decided to allow the branches to hit the ground and spill over the small stone wall. Last week on a walk through the garden I discovered that a few of the branches that were in contact with the ground have rooted. I have often discovered this on plants in the gardens but this is the first time I have see this on a maple in over twenty years. I know that there is a Patent on this cultivar but what if it propagates itself?

 

Hi. Could someone describe how this cultivar develops with time? I'm curious about the form and shape as it ages; how it might fit into the context of a traditional style Japanese garden.

From what I've seen, my guess is that only wants to grow downward. In a western styled garden, this is acceptable, but not likely in a traditional Japanese garden. From the perspective of a bonsai and Japanese garden enthusiast, I think that it would need some training to help develop some intresting trunk and branching form before allowing it to grow more freely, weeping.

The Ryusen I've seen so far look to be staked up straight and tall like many commercially grown lace-leaf Japanese maples, so I can't be sure about how a mature Ryusen might look with some or no human intervention.

 

I'm not sure there are any specimens in the US old enough to get a good feel for a mature tree, but I can certainly attest to the extremely pendulous nature of the tree. Also, it is most certainly true that the growers are staking them straight up. I can say that I have trained mine into a more serpentine-ish style to gain a little more structural appeal. I wish it was not a patented variety because I would grow it myself...properly.

Concerning the use in a japanese garden: I would suspect that it could be useful if intense training was done to the canopy, but it would most likely be more useful if allowed to trail and mound up naturally.

 

Mine has about 2" of diameter at its base, and I've had it several years now. I have not staked it, but instead have allowed the tree to do its own natural thing. It's potted in a 4' high large elevated urn, and it naturally cascades down the sides quite beautifully. I am thinking of taking the plant and the urn and transporting them to one of my more dramatic steep hillsides so Ryusen (or Ryu Sei) can descend down the hillside unabated. Mine is a vigorous grower and I prune it a lot each winter. So I'm thinking maybe I'll prune less next year, place it in a space where it can cascade to its heart's content, and just see what happens. It's cascading habit is its most intriguing trait, so why not feature that?

 

I wish I knew what it might look like mature with out training as well. Mine has already been trained to 8' but I'd like to let it do it's own thing now. I'm glad they staked it for at least a little height because on the description card it says grows to 12" in height lol. I want a tree not ground cover. But once staked to the height you desire, I'm wondering what it might look like down the road if I just let it be.

I just found my ryusen at a local nursery, only jm they had actually. I couldn't believe it. It was on my list so of course I snatched it up right away. I think it's pretty nice, a little bit of bark scaring but I got them to give me 25% off, only cost me a little over $100 so I think it was a fair deal. Anyway I thought I'd share since I saw this thread. I'm hoping it will look good once mature but I like it for now. Here are a couple pics to see the shape so far. You can tell from the close up, the branches don't make it very far out before going staight down so I'm guesing it will need some training if you want a nice canapy. I found it hard to find many pics when researching this tree so hopefully mine can help someone. If I remember I'll get some pics in the fall as well.

Also one question, when do you think it would be ok to remove the stake? I just planted it 2 days ago but I don't like having my trees staked lol.

 

I've let my Ryusen do its thing, and that's cascade, so I barely recognize the plant from your photos. I guess if I were you and had just recently staked it up, I'd keep the stakes in place until next winter at least. If you have reached the height you want by next winter, then take the stakes down. This plant really really likes to cascade DOWN, and it's beautiful when it does. While your tree looks great, I'm just amazed at the difference in price across the US. I bought mind about 5 years ago and paid about $20 for it, and it was a pretty good sized tree at that time. It's now a considerable tree with a 2" diameter trunk, dense, healthy, and I'm pretty sure it could take over the neighborhood if I didn't prune it with abandon.
Happy growing.