I have put this Acer palmatum on hold to buy within a couple of days. My dilemma is that I don't know what variety of Acer palmatum Linearilobum this plant is. It is about 6 feet tall in a umbrella shape. The original tag that came with the plant says, "Acer Palmatum - Smooth Japanese Maple." Obviously, the nursery quickly realized it wasn't so and then changed the tag to "Unknown Japanese Maple" with a slight discount. I always wanted to have at least a couple of Linearilobums in my yard. I've purchased a 10-inch tall Koto No Ito this year. So, I know this plant is not Koto No Ito for sure. Since the fall color is rather reddish, this might eliminate some known varieties. I tried to look for some leaves that have not turned into fall color yet, I couldn't find them except some lower-branch leaves under shades that carry some light bronze color in greenish-tone base. Come to think of it, the colors of the leaves may not be the fall-color yet. They may represent the true color of the plant's in summer? Some key observations are: . Clearly 5-lobe AP. Rather deeply divided. . Umbrella shape with multiple branches close to the root . I don't think it is Beni Otaki because it is not upright. Also Beni Otaki has 7-lobes? . Older trunks have reddish tone on them. Younger branches have yellowish tone . Not upright or strong branches, but not willowy either . I couldn't tell if this was grafted or not because of the tightly wrapped with burlap . Fall color is red (this might be misleading because it is not quite fall yet in Seattle) I hate to shell out $100 bucks for a plant that I don't know the exact name for. So, I am wondering if anyone can try to decipher from these photos what kind of Linearilobum this might be. Thanks.
Fall colors the 31st of August????, where is your garden, Greenland??? In Seattle, Wa, if a tree has fall colors at this time of the year one may suspect some kind of stress on the tree, environmental and/or pathogens. Can you tell if your tree has a graft union?, only if it is a grafted selection we could try to help you finding out. Gomero
Gomero, As you've noted, it is not quite fall yet here in Seattle. So, I have to assume that this is its natural summer color for this plant - very prominent bronze (almost red) color when they are exposed to direct sunlight. Your question on the graft, I actually looked around the base of the plant to see if it was grafted. I couldn't find any obvious sign of it. However, as I noted in my original post, the burlap was so tight to the base, I couldn't quite pry open deep inside. Thanks.
The trunk and branch structure of that tree looks typical of a grafted plant, and not typical of a seed grown plant; it would be reasonable to assume it was grafted until such time as you can remove the burlap and have a better look. That said I do not know what cultivar it is. The only red linearilobum I grow is 'Red pygmy' and the general habit and branch structure looks very similar, but the leaf colour and leaf shape is a little different. It won't answer your question but you might find this old thread from 2004 an interesting read (it starts on the subject of linearilobums and then digresses some in an entertaining and informative fashion): http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=4922 By the way, jhk, that was a fantastic Shindeshojo you posted pictures of a while back! Hope it is doing fine.
Thanks for the link, Maf That thread certainly is entertaining. It also has lots of useful information for identifying linearilobum. Based on what I read there, I am leaning toward filifera purpurea based on the bark description of "reddish cast to its purple red bark." However, this plant doesn't have any purplish tone on its leaves. Based on the coloring of the leaves, I also can say, it is Atrolineare - "bronze red." As you can see on its younger branch, there is a solid Dijon Mustard-yellow tone to it. P.S. Maf, my A. p. 'shindeshojo' is doing really well. I pruned the plant this year (I do this every three to four years). I have about 10 different varieties of Acer in my backyard (most of them 20+ years old), Shindeshojo and Shigetatsu sawa are my favorites. When Shindeshojo puts out its show in May, it is one-month spectacle. Thanks.
Say Gomero, Plenty of fall color up here all ready! The bocages are filled with yellow patches, many of the birches and poplars have lost at least half of their leaves, the cherries are pretty much bare. Many maples and liquidambars showing at least some color. Trying to water like crazy but can't keep up. I need your automatic system up here! :) -E
Heheh. You reckon? :) A couple of the maples like the dry, anyway. Most of the campestres -- the notable exception being Acuminatilobum which is leafless (but alive I hope) -- are happy, a new Silver Celebration has put on lots of healthy growth. A. monspessulanum has long shoots (and was undamaged from the horrible winter). A. discolor died back to the ground after freezing, but is now already 3 ft tall again! cheers, -E
If you are refering to me,ok so far.... We had +2.3 C as the lowest night temperatur two weeks ago,close call! but now it´s up in the +10C at night.+20C during days.A.japonicum 'Aconitifolium' starting to show autum colours,Beutiful!The palmatums still on their late summers growt.
Yes, zonebreaker, I couldn't remember your screen name -- nice to hear from you again! We got down to about 6C / 43F the night before last. No autumn colors yet. My A. triflorum actually seems to be forming new growth buds.
I live north of Seattle about 40 minutes. Its been an odd weather year for us here. Less rain than normal with some much longer periods of HOT weather ( 90 to over 100 degrees ). Lots of the large alders and maples are stressed. I've had to water my potted maples ever 2 days, some every day. Even some of our large Acer Palmatums in the ground are showing stress from the weather this year. I would say the linearilobum your showing is just stressed out and not showing it's true colors. What nursery are you looking at Cirque
Cirque, There is a good possibility that it is stressed out. There were a couple of Bloodgood Japanese maples right next to the Linearilobum showing bright red color - almost true to their fall color. There were other kinds including A. p. 'Beni otari'. All of them were in good shape with beautiful fall-colored leaves. If they're all stressed out, I certainly can't tell from the coloring of the leaves! I am hoping that the nursery has well taken care of these plants during this unusual dry summer. The name of the nursery is Squak Nursery in Issaquah. They're well respected in this area. I like that place. I've decided to bite the bullet and purchased the plant, hoping that all will be well. I was looking for a structural plant that would replace my lilacs. I think this will do it. Thanks for all the helps so far. But I am still hoping that someone will be able to pin point from the photos that it must be ___. jhk
At a first glance this tree doesn't look like Red pygmy to me. The close up photo just doesn't look quite right. This is one of the most difficult groups of maples to ID. There are several old varieties that are seldom seen and there is a lot of variability between strains of the same cultivar, and there is different leaf shapes within the same plant and in different growing conditions. However, I think that tree is a good buy for size and color retention, even without knowing the name.
Mattlwflower, Thanks for your observation. I've purchased the plant. Now, it is in my backyard. I am very happy with the size and the look of it so far. If I see anything peculiar that could help identify the plant in the future as it starts growing at the new site, I will follow up with additional posts on this thread. Thanks.