Here is a link a gardenweb thread that I found interesting. I thought someone here, especially within the UBC, might have some comment. I myself have nothing in particular to add, as I know nothing about the subject. http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/maple/msg0800000923781.html MJH
UBCBG has a Dipteronia sinensis sourced via Hillier Nurseries, although I note that its family name hasn't been updated yet to Sapindaceae (plants from Acer have). I imagine that will occur whenever that area of the garden is next inventoried, if it hasn't been done in the months since that database was put on the web.
I was fortunate to view the interesting plant Dipteronia sinensis at Quarryhill Arboretum at Sonoma, CA this past spring. With only a casual glance one would think it was a negundo or henryi. Quarryhill Botanical Garden is a non-profit botanical garden dedicated to advancing the conservation, study, and cultivation of the temperate Flora of Asia. It is a very interesting place to visit. Their collection is at the most only 15 years old, so plants are very young. It will be a spectacular place to visit in 15 years! Their website hosts a very useful Database of Asian Plants in Cultivation. It allows you to find Arboretums throughout the US that have a particular plant. http://www.calacademy.org/research/botany/quarryhill/index.asp
When I saw the photo from Esveld a light bulb when off in my head. I knew I had seen this tree before and then figured out where I had seen it. I never knew it by species name but I did know it by the genus. Don Kleim had this tree in his backyard for years, longer than the 24 years that I knew him. His tree also came from England. Let's show what the sinensis form looks like to others. http://www.esveld.nl/htmldiaen/d/disine.htm http://www.asianflora.com/Aceraceae/Dipteronia-sinensis.htm Have not seen a good photo of dyerana. As we can see from here there is a Taipei variety. http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/mss/volume11/Aceraceae-AGH_coauthoring.htm Then there is this http://www.evolvingearth.org/paleocollaborator/thumbs_match.php?morph_match=MB306 with an excellent botanical overview here. http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/content/full/88/7/1316 Jim
A retired extension agent near Seattle has a nice one as well. Do not have the dimensions written down, but it is large in all aspects (for this species), including trunk and crown spread. The Quarryhill database does not seem to have any of those out here.
The UK champion Dipteronia sinensis is 10m tall and 27cm trunk diameter, if that's any useful comparison
The one in Kent, WA was measured by Robert Van Pelt, who I saw today. Without checking his records he said it was something like 35' x 4'11" x 35'. Sounds about right. Also: one in Herefordshire was 37' x 3'0" in 1969. The Quarryhill database record would be more impressive if it had ones from Seattle collections (Washington Park Arboretum, for starters) and other places besides Quarryhill and Morton.
The Quarryhill database record would be more impressive if it had ones from Seattle collections (Washington Park Arboretum, for starters) and other places besides Quarryhill and Morton. Valid point and perhaps in time there will a branching out and a merging of information so they can include a wide range of plant material in various arboretums and known collections. They have some backtracking to do in the interim. Even some of their links are broken at the moment. Most of the people I know with private collections are not going to tell them what they have. Even Strybing did not know what all was in the Noble collection at Golden Gate Park. Hillier in England had a complete list of the original plants. Don Kleim got his list from Hillier. That list came in real handy when we had to go through what was left of the dwarf Conifers years ago in order to place the name tags well actually name plates, on the right plant. Some plants in the collection were not supposed to have a "name tag" also. Jim
I was talking about public or publicly accessible collections, thus the Seattle arboretum being given as an example.
