Acer palmatum 'Shojo'

Discussion in 'Maples' started by DeZwaan Nurseries, Sep 28, 2008.

  1. DeZwaan Nurseries

    DeZwaan Nurseries Member

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    Location:
    Pitt Meadows, BC, Canada
    Can anyone tell me if Acer palmatum 'Shojo' is the same as Acer palmatum 'Shojo-nomura' ?
    On http://www.plantago.nl/plantindex/plants/a/Acer/Acer_p.htm they are listed as 2 diffrent varieties. If they are different what are the diffrent caracteristics.
    I'm currently growing Acer palmatum 'Shojo' (I think, I bought the grafted liner as Acer palmatum 'Shojo') and it is a very fast Vase shaped maple that hold its color very well in full sun. This picture was taken September 25, 2008 in BC, Canada
     

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  2. mr.shep

    mr.shep Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Location:
    San Joaquin Valley, California
    For some of us oldtimers to help Id a Maple
    it may be prudent to tell who your plant came
    from and to whom your source got their plant.

    I looked at the link you showed and was
    immediately turned off by the spellings
    of several Maples. I do not appreciate
    it one bit to see Maples that came from
    people around where I am with changed
    or hyphenated spellings. Those were
    not the spellings those plants had when
    they were sent or came into Europe. I
    do respect the rest of the work done in
    the link otherwise.

    To my knowledge the only old form plant
    to have a hyphen was 'Roseo-marginatum'
    which was an English selection for a three
    color variegated dissectum. I believe there
    is a photo of that old Maple in this forum
    but it is not listed by the above name. I
    was very pleased to see that the Maple
    is still around in England, even if no one
    knows what it is being called now or what
    it was years ago.

    In your case your Maple is not a 'Shojo',
    nor it is a 'Shojo nomura'. The Maple to
    the right in the background is closer to
    being a 'Nomura' however but the photo
    of the large Maple shown is not a 'Nomura'
    either. There is a selected form of 'Nomura
    that may just fit here and it is 'Nomura nishiki'.
    (Nishiki means brocade not does not mean
    variegated as stated elsewhere in this forum.
    Nishiki refers to the much more compact
    growth habit. The Nishiki name used to
    be used a lot for semi-dwarf Maples. By
    the way the 'Brocade' red dissectum is
    not considered a variegated Maple to most
    people).

    It is the Spring color of the Shojo group
    of reds that separates them out from all
    of the other reds with the true form Shojo
    group members having a black red with
    the contrast of an almost luminescent
    green to yellow green veining and midrib
    to the lobes. The later Spring grown can
    be a red red in some plants. The Summer
    growth is always a red red however but we
    never see a bronze red to the leaves from
    the old form plants at any time of the year.
    All Nomura group of reds have one thing
    in common and that is when they leaf out
    in the Spring they will be a red on red
    variegate but it will probably require
    someone that has seen it to show you
    where the variegation is on the lobes.
    Look at the photos of the 'Fujinami
    nishiki' in this forum and you can see
    the attributes of both the Shojo black
    red coloring as well as the 'Shojo
    nomura' purple red on the same leaf.
    If you look at the link below on this
    page to 'Shojo shidare' you will not
    see a single plant with the right
    coloring for that Maple. Had those
    Maples been grafted over time on red
    seedling rootstock they may have stayed
    the right color but now what was a black
    red Maple is now a Nigrum colored form
    plant by those photos. The Maple as
    shown by mjh1676 is the Nigrum group
    red form of 'Shojo shidare' however. I
    personally like the Nigrum form plant
    better for Shojo shidare and the reason
    why other than the Maple is a sturdier
    plant of the two and grows better here,
    is that the Nigrum form will hold its color
    better and longer during the growing
    season and will not green out (have all
    of the older leaves turn to green in this
    case) nearly as soon or go green at all
    in some locations as the old black red
    form of Shojo shidare will for us here.

    Jim
     
  3. DeZwaan Nurseries

    DeZwaan Nurseries Member

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    Location:
    Pitt Meadows, BC, Canada
    Mr. Shep

    I greatly appreciate your reply to my dilemma. I chose the mentioned web site for what I thought was its accurate spelling. A site that puts so much time and effort into its set up surely would also spend a lot of time in researching the correct spelling…..
    Originally I used Esveld’s web site (http://www.esveld.nl/catalen/heestersa.htm) for spelling and as you mentioned they do not use hyphen’s.
    The Acer in the picture was purchased from a local nursery. I do not graft my own but rely on other nurseries for purchasing grafted liners to grow on. I have since changed to an Oregon grower for my liners. I have purchased ‘Shojo’ from him as well. Although they are not as big yet, they do show the same characteristics. I will take some detailed pictures of the leaves to compare.
    The picture on the right in the background is ‘Fireglow’ although now I’m not sure anymore. I do prune my Acers heavy in winter to create a specimen plant, and the ‘Fireglow’ seems a lot slower then the other varieties. Both Maples in the picture are the same age.
     

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