Went for a walk between two showers of rain, and spotted a couple of maples. There was a buergerianum in a hedge, very surprising to find one there although this species that was totally absent not so long ago even in parks is now found as street trees, or in big containers in a pedestrian area of the city centre. There's also an Acer triflorum, almost certain about that, the leaves are almost identical to an A. griseum that I have at home, but the bark is greyish and doesn't peel off: But there were two that I can't pin a name on. The first one has samarras that have an acute angle: The second one has leaves the shape of A. platanoides, or pseudoplatanus, but they're variegated:
For the second, I don't know how one would know whether it is the actual cultivar Acer pseudoplatanus 'Leopoldii', or if it's a seed-sewn plant from that cultivar that would be said to be in the Leopoldii Group, probably sold as 'Leopoldii' anyway.
Thank you Wendy. It must be Acer pseudoplatanus 'Leopoldii', the picture on this page looks exactly the same: Acer pseudoplatanus "Leopoldii" - Arbres Tiges - Pépinières Morbihan - Les Pépinières Eric Duval à MOLAC For the first one, I should know, I have the name on the tip of my tongue. There's another one in my neighbourhood that I wanted to photograph for my personal photo collection of locally grown maples, maybe Acer platanoides 'Prigo'. Last year it was like a golden ball on a mast, but this year we had long periods of heat and drought and the tree has lost almost all its leaves. Surprisingly, there are more Acer buergerianum than Acer monspessulanum here. In fact, apart from the Montpellier maple that grows in my garden and that I have to prune back to 2 metres because it's at the limit of my garden, I've never seen any other Monpellier maple in the region. They can be used for a live hedge, they have a very dense foliage and make a very good windscreen when the leaves have fallen. Nice butter-yellow colours too in autumn...
That's a good guess: mine (ssp ginnala) have never had samarras, and I thought they were rather horizontal, and the bark matches the descriptions I can find. The size of the leaves correspond too (5-10 cm). Thanks again, you're probably right and unless someone suggests something different (which I doubt), I can now label it properly ;) But that's always the same problem with identifying a tree: there are quite a few subspecies or even cultivars, and when there is no tag, you can never be sure. Anyway, it should be an Acer tataricum of some sort...
That @wcutler has sharp eyes! :) The sycamore is certainly either Leopoldii or a similar one, and there are many seedlings that have this character. @AlainK I'll send you one if you want and if they survive, the several I got this year were in ground around the tree and suffered alot from the drought. The leaves and samaras ID the other as tataricum ssp, I actually think it's just a variable ginalla most likely. ssp tataricum is very little planted and the leaves tend to be somewhat broader. It is neither ssp aidzuense or semenovii. Since ginalla is both very common and very variable, with those long pointed leaves that seems most probable. -E
Yes indeed! That's very kind of you, but I only have a relatively small garden, about 400 m2 that I can use. I always save some space for tomatoes, courgettes-zucchinis- and a couple of herbs like parsley, coriander, dill, mint, basil, etc. and I already have problems finding a suitable place for my potted palmatums and the many seedlings, (+ bonsai and other would-be bonsai) that I have! Now that my kids have left the nest, I think I will probably sell this 4-bedroom house and trys to find a much smaller one with a much bigger garden when I retire... Quite right. And of course, the "environment" is also a factor in the possible variations. An Acer tataricum ssp ginnala I got from Pépinières Bauchery a couple of years ago. Almost 100% shade: The one you sent me, in dappled shade 50%, full shade the rest of the day: One from seeds gathered 3 years ago in a park, not sure of the subspecies or cultivar. This one is in a 9 cm pot, and gets full sun from 11 to 14:30, the hottest hours of the day. The leaves on the mother plant were about 10 cm long, now, they're 3-4 cm at most. On the right, there's a young Acer buergerianum. Hard to tell which is which...
