narrowly columnar maples?

Discussion in 'Maples' started by emery, Aug 15, 2011.

  1. emery

    emery Renowned Contributor Maple Society 10 Years

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    Which maple trees would be included in the group of narrowly columnar habits?

    I think of A. saccharum 'Newton Sentry' and 'Temple's Upright' although the latter is much less narrow. A. cappidocicum ssp lobelii actually seems to have a pretty good spread when it gets going. A. platanoides 'Columnare' is according to Esveld "not truly fastigiate".

    What others are there? Are there any Japanese or Chinese maples that would be considered fastigiate?

    -E
     
  2. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    'Reba' sugar maple is said on J. Frank Schmidt web site to be "among the narrowest".
     
  3. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Acer lobelii is naturally fastigiate, though not really narrow like a Lombardy Poplar.
     
  4. emery

    emery Renowned Contributor Maple Society 10 Years

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    Nothing on your Chinese radar, Michael?

    Interesting, looking just now at Newton Sentry (while searching for Reba in Maples for Gardens), I see that in the picture from Morris Arboretum the central trunk is visible high off the ground. Yet according to that attached "Lack of a single central trunk above six feet from the ground" is a key for recognizing it, making this a different tree altogether!

    On this page, with a picture of Reba, is another upright form: A. rubrum 'Red Rocket.' Thanks Ron.

    http://www.jfschmidt.com/catalogphotos/1011/index.html

    Some other interesting cultivars (and some less interesting) on the page.
     

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  5. jwsandal

    jwsandal Active Member

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  6. Kaitain4

    Kaitain4 Well-Known Member Maple Society 10 Years

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  7. emery

    emery Renowned Contributor Maple Society 10 Years

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    Thanks K4. Monumentale is according to MOW a synonym for 'Temple's Upright', which is meant to be less narrow than 'Newton Sentry.'

    @Justin, I've never heard of Tsukasa Silhouette before, is it supposed to keep that shape?

    -E
     
  8. mr.shep

    mr.shep Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Ron and I had a good discussion before in regards
    to Monumentale and Columnare. If we look
    enough at photos on the internet there is some
    variance in what is perceived to be Temple's
    Upright, Newton Sentry, Monumentale and
    Columnare.

    I do not do well with abbreviated names so, the
    MOW reference has no meaning to me. I do know
    that the Antoine le Hardÿ de Beaulieu Maples
    book does show photos of the Newton Sentry and
    the Temple's Upright as I recall from memory at
    Hillier's (also from memory) that I remember
    them as being. This is not to say that the Monumentale
    and the Columnare that were once in the Pacific
    northwest are the same Maples. I've had all
    four at one time, brought them in for clients
    and feel at this time that what has been proposed
    as being one Maple may not be the right name
    for the right plant. I greatly value Ron's opinion
    and realize that he may not have seen the same
    Maples as I have, so what I learned to be named
    Monumentale in the nursery trade can very well
    be a misnamed plant but I personally feel the
    Newton Sentry is a different plant where I've seen
    both grown. The overall shapes are quite similar
    but the overall width, spreads, are not. This
    could be due in part to how one tree may look
    like in the Pacific northwest looks different than
    what that same Maple may look like here
    grown in the Foothills. We have these type
    issues with the aurea and glauca forms anyway.
    In Conifers in that the aurea forms in the Pacific
    northwest develop stronger gold tones than they
    do here and the glauca forms are noticeably more
    silvery blue in color here than they are in most areas
    of the Pacific northwest. I'll go along with Newton
    Sentry and Temple's Upright names but these are
    not the names I learned at first. I first knew of
    Columnare and Monumentale. Ron knows how I
    feel about the name nana being attached to a
    number of Pines. I know his point of view and
    respect it and as a purist agree with it but he
    has to take into account mine as well as I still
    have some of those Pines that were officially
    called and named in the nursery trade before
    the target date to which no more Pines are
    allowed to have this name. Do we rename
    Pinus parviflora glauca nana when I have both
    Pinus parviflora glauca and Pinus parviflora
    glauca nana and know how they are different
    from one another? Pinus strobus nana is still
    my most favorite of all of the Eastern White
    Pines as a universal landscape tree. I adore that
    Pine!!!! Sylvestris nana is quite a bit different than
    the other "Scotch" (Scots) Pine dwarfs are. Nigra
    nana and Nigra hornibrookiana and Hornibrookiana
    nana are quite a bit different - needle length and
    needle color as well as growth habits. It is not
    my fault these Pines are not so easy to find, any
    more, so people can finally see them.

    If the rootstocks used for Newton Sentry and
    Temple's Upright were consistent it might be
    real interesting to see how those plants match
    up to the old Monumentale and Columnare in
    the Pacific northwest and elsewhere (west) on
    the same rootstocks. Could be that one tree
    may be a created form or variant form of
    a previous Maple and in today's world with
    so little history of previous cultivars known
    to naming sources, they can easily be fooled
    and have been a few times over in the palmatum
    type Maples alone is my gripe with them and
    their naming conventions - just my opinion.
    I’ve asked the question which came first
    Columnare or Temple’s Upright and the
    people I’ve asked out west say Columnare
    did! I will say that the photos yweride posted
    in the Maple photo galley are of the same
    Maple I knew of well enough in Oregon.
    So, be that as it may I know of the
    Momumentale Buchholz & Buchholz
    nursery is selling and have had for a
    while. I’ve seen that particular Maple
    in the collection photo, who else has?
    Now compare that photo to the photos
    in the de Beaulieu book and see what
    you think.

    I do not approve of a naming everything as
    even the old guard in Maples still called all
    known forms of Kasigiyama - Kasagiyama.
    As a few people felt that the aka, shiro and
    the beni forms did not deserve official recognition
    of which by the way clears the way for these
    old plants to be given new names by those
    people that have never seen one, never
    been around one and never have grown
    one to begin with. They were called aka
    shiro and beni in the nurseries that had
    them but these were nursery names only.
    Much like Don’s Big Red nursery name
    in the US and sent to Japan for evaluation
    being named Oshu beni years later in Japan
    and even today people cannot tell the difference
    between Osyu beni and Oshu beni. They
    are as different as cheese and chalk. One
    is a deeply divided Maple and the other
    is a palmate. One is a nigrum group red
    and the other is a nomura group red. One
    is a standard size Maple and the other is
    a semi-dwarf.

    Emery, I’ve seen some pruned Twombly’s
    Red Sentinel that to some people may be
    considered very close to being a variant
    form of the old fastigiate Nuresagi but
    was not purported by Twombly nursery
    to have come about from Nuresagi if I
    remember right and yes, the fastigiate
    form (selected through seedling selection)
    of Nuresagi still exists in a couple of select
    collections.

    Jim
     
  9. jwsandal

    jwsandal Active Member

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    Emery-

    I am unsure if this cultivar will keep its form as advertised as the oldest one I know is a 2 year graft that is 4 feet x 1.5 feet with all side branches columnar so far. I will prune and shape mine to accentuate this form and will sustain from taking any scions for a time as well. The verdict is out but I will try to keep forum updated on 'Tsukasa silhouette'.

    Justin
     
  10. Sam268

    Sam268 Member

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    I really like the shape of 'Tsukasa silhouette'
    Probably won't be able to find it in Canada.

    I have access to red sentinel young trees 5 ft with a single trunk.
    I am going to try to shape the Sentinel to keep it narrow and single trunk like the Tsukasa in the picture.

    If anyone know where I can get a 'Tsukasa silhouette' in Canada.
    Please let me know.
     
  11. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    See the account given under A. saccharum 'Newton Sentry' on page 58 of A.L. Jacobson's 1996 Ten Speed Press book North American Landscape Trees:

    In 1954, B. Harkness proposed the name A. saccharum 'Newton Sentry' to replace F.L. Temple's name A. saccharum 'Columnare', since the latter was hopelessly confused in the nursery trade with Temple's A. saccharum 'Monumentale'. The confusion has remained, and even authoritative books and reputable nurseries continue to bungle the names and descriptions...
     
  12. paxi

    paxi Active Member

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    I can only speak from pretty limited experience but JM Okushimo has been the narrowest of my varieties. I am not sure if it meets your definition of "columnar" but I seem to hear it described as "vaselike" in growth. This picture (not mine) is a pretty good example of what I am talking about:

    http://www.lichtenfelt.com/_gallery/tree_farm/gallery_55.htm
     
  13. emery

    emery Renowned Contributor Maple Society 10 Years

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    Jim, by MOW I mean Maples of the World.

    I think you make a great point about rootstock variation leading to eventual variation in the plant. I find myself constantly going on about this but sometimes I feel like a voice in the wilderness...

    It's true that from the picture in The Illustrated Guide and that from the Buccholz site, these could easily be different trees. But there are so many factors, culture, airflow, age, etc that I certainly couldn't draw any conclusion from the pictures.

    Paxi, thanks that's an interesting maple that I didn't know before.

    Ron, the naming of Newton Sentry seems very well documented as the original plant in Newton MA is well known. Perhaps I'm missing context from Jacobson, is he proposing a different genesis? The pdf I posted earlier dates the name to around 1900.

    One thing is for sure, the naming of these maples is hopelessly confused.

    Just noticed two other fastigiate sugar maples: A. saccharum 'Goldspire' and 'Cary.'

    -E
     
  14. amazingmaples

    amazingmaples Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    i like Acer saccharum 'Monumentale' but it is not for everyones garden. Acer palmatum 'Twombly's Red Sentinel' is another very good narrow maple
     

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