Hi everyone. Just wanted to share the pictures of this interesting Acer rubrum I came across while working a month or so ago. I've seen lots of different shaped A. rubrum leaves, but never any quite like this. It reminds me of the batman symbol (-: . Has anyone seen something similar before?
Hi Kyle, that's quite a unique looking leaf in my experience. If it has good autumn color it would be worth propagating. Thanks for posting. -E
Thanks, Emery. I agree that it is rather interesting and worth propagating. Most I’ve read on Acer rubrum propagation suggests cuttings are the way to go. I haven’t tried many things from cuttings yet, and the few thing I have didn’t make it. Do you have any tips? Also, here is a neat cut-leaf Acer rubrum I found in the same area. Someone suggested it might be xfreemannii, but there were no saccharinum in the area, as it was up on a hot ridge.
Well I don't think your laciniate leaf is A. rubrum, I'd guess either saccharinum or x freemanii. But I'm not looking at it in the flesh, either. Birds or the wind can carry the fruit quite a long way, miles I think. I haven't propagated rubrum. Almost all of the cultivars I've bought are grafted, but I've had great difficulty with these plants. I just consulted Dirr and he says there are a lot of rejection problems with grafting rubrum on seedling rubrum. He gives couple of formulae for rooting, ending with one used on the west coast that seems very successful but requires pushed out growth: 2-4 nodes for 9 inch cuttings. These are done June/July so probably too late for this year anyway. But if the tree has some size, it won't hurt to try a couple dozen cuttings. Rubrum is now produced with tissue culture, which I find fascinating although not a great help in your situation! :) -E
If you want to own the grafting Bible, check out The Bench Grafters Handbook. Here is the preview on Google books. The Acer specific section is in the preview, but you will see from the table of contents much of the highly specific methods/ care are left out of the preview. The Bench Grafter's Handbook Acer specific section (pp273-290): The Bench Grafter's Handbook
