I wore yellow today, must be so no-one would find me in the garden. Last year's Yellow posting was at the end of November, but it's already started. I learned two exciting things today, and they were both yellow. Last year, there was a discussion regarding distinguishing Liriodendron chinense from L. tulipifera: Yesterday, I asked Douglas Justice whether L. chinense had smooth bark, as had been suggested to me. Douglas replied that that is not a reliable indicator, and then sent me this: Translation: abaxial refers to the back of the leaf; vestiture is supposed to refer to hairs, but Douglas insisted they're bumps (did he really say that?); anyway, not hairs. I'm not sure I buy the never glaucous story, as the L. tulipifera was by comparison more grey. I did see the papillae using the loupe. Very cool. I thought they looked like hairs. You can't see these things in this photo, but the two leaves do look quite different on the leaf backs. The L. tulipifera is on the left; L. chinensis on the right. The other thing I learned is that these two Acer leaves are different, and not just because only one is yellow. But Lee and I were looking at the wrong side of the leaf. The Acer japonicum has hairs on the back, and A. palmatum is glabrous. Acer japonicum on the left; The Acer palmatum is on the right. Here is the Acer palmatum. And Acer japonicum 'O-isami', with a yellow leaf too. Our visit started with another bird today, or two - a pair of eagles. Actually, it started with this Ginkgo biloba that I posted so often last year. Last week it was all green, today, all yellow. Soon after, I found a new-to-me Acer crataegifolium. And is this a leaf bud and fruits on the Lindera obtusiloba? In an area where I didn't know it was growing, I recognized this Acer miyabei, my favourite maple. Yellow leaves, too. I don't often pay attention to birches, but the Betula fargesii was on-theme. And I wouldn't have paid any attention to the Philadelphus lewisii, but Lee noticed the wasp nest. I'm not sure I've ever seen fruits on the Calycanthus chinensis, and I wouldn't have seen them today if it hadn't been yellow. The greeter in the north garden is the Nyssa sylvatica, looking splendid. There was plenty of yellow over there, but the only one I photographed was this Acer x conspicuum. I'll sneak in two trees off-theme. The Acer griseum in the alpine garden has been enjoying the sunshine. Maybe I'll get away with calling this Garrya elliptica. There are three other Garrya in the same area.
Although species is polymorphic of course all those cuts in the margins make me wonder if the A. palmatum really is that one and not another Sec. Palmata maple.
We've been back and forth on that maple for years. The plants came to us (there are actually about a dozen individuals) in the mid 1970s as Acer palmatum. The details are long gone. We suspect they were from Ed Lohbrunner. The first image is from 2005. The second is the same plant in 2009. I initially thought it might be A. pseudosieboldianum, but it keys out to A. palmatum. I agree that it is an unusual leaf shape for that species. Any suggestions?
