Hi @maf , I agree with all the points that you made. I will try to better document the late summer and fall stages of development. As of now, I am at about 95% confidence level… If you find any photos from Westonbirt’s tree in your records to post here, that would be immensely helpful! Before you posted your message I had already sent emails to both Westonbirt and Morris… if they reply I will share their response. I did not contact Essence of the tree nursery. I also did not contact the west coast nursery from which I bought the graft, I suspect the chances of getting a reply from them are rather slim… They sell both ‘Sensu’ and ‘Tsuri nishiki’, but not ‘Elegans’. I will probably go to Morris Arboretum in the very near future, 3 hour drive is not too bad. Yes, the location goes against almost everything they say in the books… I just experimented and seems to be working well. The tree has already started to grow over one of the rocks, I hope it will be fine… Thanks and I’ll keep you posted on any developments, Nik
I posted before I saw your last message… I really appreciate your and D’s @Acerholic time and effort! The fact that both of you don’t have pictures does not bode well for the cultivar, it was probably not too impressive.
Well worth doing, nothing like seeing a maple in the "flesh" to really get an idea what it looks like. Plus you get to see all the other trees.... I have added 'Tsuri nishiki' to my list of trees to photograph at Westonbirt next time I am there (hopefully this spring/summer). I will post the images here.
Flowers!!! I was so pleasantly surprised to find these after the rain this morning. My very first Japanese maple flowers in our yard. And they happen to be on my favorite maple. Interestingly, the few that I see are located on the innermost weak branches, there are none on branches facing outwards (last picture as example of weak outer branches). Will take better pictures when they open.
@maf , you were right, this is the response I got from Westonbirt: “Thank you for your email. Unfortunately we’re unable to assist with queries relating to identification of specimens outside of the arboretum. It may be worth seeing if there are any plant centres etc in your local area that could assist.” I think that’s unfortunate, isn’t part of the mission of places like that to educate the public…
Just read your post N. As you say it's unfortunate, but as we all know identifying maple cultivars is very difficult with the thousands out there. So maybe Westonbirt is just being careful not to try and ID something that maybe wrong, which would cause a little bit of embarrassment for the national collection holders. So the hunt for the ID goes on....
Hi D, I completely understand. At the same time, there are many ways they can be helpful without being definitive. Hey, at least they replied… I still have not heard back from Morris. Yes, the hunt continues!
The few flowers that had opened this morning seem to be all male. Chances for seeds are not good. However, this is consistent with the idea that this tree is ‘Tsuri nishiki’, which does not appear to set seed. The seven clusters of flowers I see are all on branches deep inside the tree and among twigs that are “self-pruning” due to the lack of enough light. Thus, not only stressed trees, but also stressed areas of Japanese maples seem to flower better. I am now quite confident that this is ‘Tsuri nishiki’. In addition to ‘Elegans’, two other cultivars have similar leaf shape and size, ‘Nicholsonii’ and ‘Chitose yama’. Those IDs do not fit because both of them, especially the latter, exhibit cascading habit instead of the strong upright habit of my maple. Also, both ‘Nicholsonii’ and ‘Chitose yama’ seem to be prolific bloomers and seed producers. From pictures that I have seen, my tree and ‘Elegans’ have superior spring and summer colors than ‘Nicholsonii’ and ‘Chitose yama’ (personal opinion, of course). On the other hand, ‘Nicholsonii’ and ‘Chitose yama’ definitely seem to have much better fall color. Additional observations during the summer and a trip to the Morris Arboretum should help to solidify my confidence (of course, one can never be 100% sure in such situations).
A word of caution to anyone in Europe/UK who wants to buy 'Tsuri nishiki', it appears to be sold under the wrong name 'Kogane nishiki'. According to Vertrees, that cultivar is not even in the Matsumurae group, rather it is a Palmatum type tree (picture in the book clearly shows that). Here are some pictures that look almost identical to my tree, yet, they are labeled as "Kogane nishiki': https://www.gapphotos.com/imageresults.asp?txtsearchterm=kogane-nishiki https://www.vivainord.it/varietà/acer-palmatum-kogane-nishiki/ https://www.erableduvaldejargeau.fr/produit/acer-palmatum-kogane-nishiki-duplicate-1/ https://www.ungiardinotraicampi.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1516 On the other hand, many respectable nurseries in both Europe and the UK sell 'Tsuri nishiki' that has nothing to do with the description of the cultivar in Vertrees (or at least the pictures they have posted on their websites...). So if anyone in Europe/UK is interested in acquiring 'Tsuri nishiki', look for and buy 'Kogane nishiki', you'll probably have a much better chance of getting the real thing. As for the US, a lot of my confusion about this cultivar stems from the fact that most nurseries have shown pictures of second flush summer growth mature leaves in their descriptions, which not only emerge red (unlike regular spring growth), but also have a very different shape (yet, still Matsumurae) that has little to do with the fan-shaped spring leaves with almost flat base. However, they all seem to be selling the correct cultivar. I hope this is helpful to anyone interested in 'Tsuri nishiki'.
Few pictures from my ‘Tsuri nishiki’ from today. Still only male flowers. (I decided that I am confident enough to use that name from now on for my favorite maple tree.)
Summer growth. Note the difference in leaf color and shape compared to spring young leaves (previous post). Picture taken Aug 15, 2019.
By combining the Japanese characters for Tsuri, Nishiki and Momiji for a web search, I managed to find a description of the cultivar (in Japanese) from a site called Momiji’s Soliloquy, which Google translated as follows: “ The Japanese maple 'Tsurinishiki' is a type of Japanese maple. The long, slender lobes that cut deeply into the petiole are lined with rough serrations, and the tips of the lobes droop, giving the appearance of weeping from a distance. At the time of budding, the leaf color is dark yellow-green, with a dark reddish-brown color around the lobes. Gradually the green color becomes stronger and turns dark green in summer. In autumn, the leaves turn deep red-orange to bright orange, and the thick mesophyll keeps the leaves long-lasting. It is a long-standing variety, and in “Senka Hyakshoku Koyoshu Complete”, it is described as having long, slender leaves, deeply cut watermarks, and small shriveled edges. In spring, the leaves are light persimmon color, around the leaves, pale persimmon color. “ Some things I do not understand (or they were not accurately translated), [e.g. what are “watermarks”?, is it lobes?], but most of the description fits the leaves of my tree very well. The only exception is the fall color, which has never been too intense under the conditions in our yard. Interestingly, there is nothing mentioned about twisting of the lobes.
tsuri = fishing nishiki = brocade By using my super-primitive Japanese, I managed to find the following pictures from the website blog.livedoor.jp The translation of the text in the attached image is: Today's momiji [picture] [picture] Spring maple, fishing brocade, fishing The sawtooth (Kyoshi: jagged) on the edge of the leaf Characteristic maple The autumn leaves also turn orange and are beautiful. [picture] (Moderators, please feel free to remove this post if it does not conform to the rules of the forum.)
More pictures of my ‘Tsuri nishiki’ from this morning. I noticed some branches a quite heavily infested with aphids, but I am still not spraying with insecticide. I am always worried that if I do I will kill even beauties like the one in the last picture. I have two theories why this cultivar is called “tsuri” (fishing, angling). The first is that the long new shoots in spring hang gently down like a long fishing pole, and then later in summer and fall they straighten upwards as if they’re pulling fish out of the water. The second, less likely, is that the serration of the middle and base of the lobes is curved up like a fishhook. Will post more pictures when the persimmon colors develop soon.
Colors are transitioning quickly into the apricot/peach/persimmon phase. I just ordered van Gelderen’s ‘Maples for gardens’ because I saw in a preview of the index that it has ‘Tsuri nishiki’ (p. 195), hopefully there are some pictures. D @Acerholic , I saw in a thread about maple reference books that you mention having Masayoshi Yano’s ‘Book for Maples’. Whenever you get a chance, can you please check if it has a description of ‘Tsuri nishiki’. Thanks in advance!
I'm not D, but here ya go: Edit: when Yano uses brown in the translation to describe leaf colour it is not exactly the term we would use in the west, IMO. He used it a lot throughout the book, and I can't help but think it was a poor translation and another term would be more accurate. Unfortunately I can't read Japanese so cannot suggest what a better or more accurate term would be.
Thank you so much, @maf !!! This is so helpful! I think the leaves look very similar… however these seem to be leaves pictured later in the summer, when they firm up. I will definitely post pictures of my tree then. The colors seem to be changing by the hour… here they are now few hours after my morning shots. Thanks so much again!
@maf , after carefully examining the picture from Yano’s book, I now have absolutely no doubt that my tree is ‘Tsuri nishiki’. Thank you so much!!! (I’ll keep posting pictures… to hopefully convince you!) Again, keep in mind that this cultivar is sold frequently in Europe/UK as ‘Kogane nishiki’.
Cool, glad it helped. My initial doubt was probably mostly to do with comparing to photo's taken at different stages. You know your tree better than I can. If you really want to convince me 100% I need to see some pics of mature leaves (i.e. summer leaves) that are darker green with the thick firm texture and twisting that the Vertrees description suggests are the defining features. But again, you don't need to convince me, only yourself! Also, do you think the ambiguous translated description of watermarks could be referring to the vein patterns? Or even the empty spaces between the leaf lobes? Edit: will also still try to get pics of the one at Westonbirt...
I will definitely keep posting more pictures. To be precise, Vertrees says “sometimes twisted at various angles”’, not a defining feature… but I have seen it and I will photograph it. (TBH, I think nurseries are following that book to show pictures that match the description.) I think the watermarks are the main vein patterns, they are very pronounced. I look forward to seeing the pics from Westonbirt! They must have picture records of all their trees, that would have been a very nice way to address my request for help in identifying my tree… yet, they chose not to do it. I do appreciate that they responded, though. Again, many thanks!!!
And @maf , when you go to Westonbirt, look for a very large (or huge) tree. I am pretty sure that’s the reason you and @Acerholic have missed it previously. An old specimen probably doesn’t have the look of regular Japanese maple. This maple is unique in its leaf shape, but more so in its branching structure, main branches at the point of separation or removed branches create a characteristic angular appearance, almost square shape cross section. And most impressively, this tree changes constantly during the growing season.
The Westonbirt interactive map function gives the precise location within the arboretum of Tsuri nishiki, so as long as I can get decent data reception in the arboretum (or print out a map beforehand), I shouldn't have any trouble finding it. According to the accession number it was planted in 1997 so should be a fair size, but not large compared to the many over 100 year old Japanese maples dating back to the early years of the arboretum. The reason I do not seem to have a photo is the sheer number of maples on site, it would be literally impossible to photograph them all in a day and you have to pick and choose depending on what is most photogenic on the day. I have more than likely seen it before as it is in a section of the arboretum where the national collection of JM's is; once I see it again I may be able to recognise the tree as one I have looked at before.
Planted in 1997, and growing more than a foot per year, that would make it about 30 feet tall (at least). Based on the growth rate of the tree I have. It will be big…
I will try to figure out how wide the canopy is with Google maps. The location on the link you posted is very precise, so it should be possible.
