I have a Japanese maple purchased last year before leaved out, the tag is ukigumo and it is grafted. The leaves did not show the variegation last year. Here is this year's pictures showing the leaves and branching habit. Again no really any variegation. The top heavy upright shape does seem like to resemble ukigumo pictures I have seen. The fall color was dull which also fits the bill. Is there a chance the plant is ukigumo and that has reverted or not shown variegation due to a change of culture? Thanks
I would say it looks like 'Ukigumo' Japanese Maples leaves change quite alot, depending on several factors. Juvenile/Mature, Enviromental Stress, Fertilization, Shade, etc. I often find my trees dont resemble what i see in books or desire all of the time. They often look different from one year to next, even one week to the next during the spring. The pictures and especially variegation seen in books and other trees are often snapshots of just a certain period, not year round characteristics. Mike
hello poorowner, the leaves on your tree look like none of the photos of ukigumo i've seen posted in the ubc gallery, in books or online. also, the habit of yours is rather graceful and open. have you pruned it at all. mine is rather compact and looks to be on it's way to shrubbiness. the one characteristic i see, other than the visible lack of variegation in your leaves, is the absence of any sort of undulation in any of them as well. perhaps crazy is correct in that your ukigumo may not yet be in a setting that is conducive to exhibiting it's proper colors. i've written elsewhere, that my first summer with my ukigumo yielded only two leaves that had the slightest hint of variegation, but this year seems more promising. i haven't had either of my variegated maples, an ukigumo and a highly questionable higasayama, long enough to see any reversion take place so i can't help you there either. let us see what changes occur as summer nears. i've included some rushed shots of the current condition of my ukigumo. i apologize for the blurriness but it's dusk here now. you can see that it's green leaves are quite mottled, and it's habit upright and close. ^_^ n. musume
I've never seen an 'Ukigumo' that looked like plant in question, for starters note theat its young leaves are yellowish. There are hundreds of kinds of Japanese maples, no need to rush to put an incorrect but familiar name on it--if it is even a named cultivars, rather than an unnamed seedling.
I agree with Ron B. You probably need to observe it through several seasons before a conclusive assessment could be made. In most cases two seasons are needed for the maple to adjust to new growing conditions and begin to display specific features. Do you see any traces of graft? Gomero
I don't see any graft union indications in the picture where the stem is visible, looks like the 'Ukigumo' died and you got the seedling rootstock--or it just was never labeled right in the first place. Mislabeled stock is not rare, unfortunately. Didn't catch earlier that it came labeled as 'Ukigumo'.
'Ukigumo' will lose varigation if you fertilize it more than just a little. Sometimes it looses it if you move it. The varigation will return after it settles down. Your climate will effect the amount of white in the leaves as well. Warmer climates tend to reduce the amount of varigation. Mine changes from year to year. It seems to do better if I leave it alone. Dale
