Will most dissectum maple seedlings weep/cascade?

Discussion in 'Maples' started by Imperfect Ending, Nov 2, 2012.

  1. Imperfect Ending

    Imperfect Ending Active Member

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    I collected a lot of seeds from my 'Tamukeyama' this year and I was wondering will most of them grow into a weeping/cascading form or will some/half/most of them revert to regular upright?
     
  2. maf

    maf Generous Contributor Maple Society 10 Years

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    Much will depend on who the father is. Or, to be more precise, whether it was self-pollinated or pollinated by a nearby Japanese maple; if it was cross-pollinated it will depend on the growth habit of the pollen parent. Have a look around and see which other nearby trees were flowering this spring at the same time as the 'Tamukeyama'.

    I don't think there has been any (published) work done on identifying which genes in the Acer palmatum genome are recessive and which are dominant, but my guess is that the gene controlling the weeping/cascading habit of the dissectums is recessive and, if so, a cross to an upright form would result in an upright seedling in the F1 generation. A self-pollinated seed or one crossed to another weeping/cascading maple would result in a plant with the cascading habit.
     
  3. Imperfect Ending

    Imperfect Ending Active Member

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    It's been at the nursery with hundreds of other maples... lol I guess I have to wait and find out.
    I was just assuming that it might be 50/50 or something
     

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