In another thread, this comment was made that got me thinking: I've actually wondered about this for some time. A lot of trees get labeled as 'Bloodgood', but are they really? There seems to be some debate about the origin of the plant. Has this riddle ever been solved? Where is the original tree? Is there a source where one can confidently purchase the TRUE Bloodgood???
MOW has it coming from Bloodgood Nurseries on Long Island, and follows up with the suggestion that the got it from Ebbinge and van Groos of Boskoop, NE. I remember hearing the Bloodgood Nursery is no more, sadly. cheers, -E
Yes, I read that note from Vertrees, but I guess I'm wondering where the current, most reliable source is for that tree that is truly 'Bloodgood', and not just a red maple someone is calling a Bloodgood. Surely if its been around that long there must be a "mother tree" somewhere?
Ah. Well AFAIK the tree at Esveld is from the original tree, so that ought to be good to type. I think Bloodgood on the open market is widely viewed as being completely diluted though, with so many atro seedlings having been sold that as you say, it's become the Home Depot way to say "red japanese maple..." A sad story, oft repeated... I'd guess there are still a few in the US like Mr. Byles who can trace the provenance.
Trees I've seen at big boxes here in the past could perfectly well be true to type. It depends on what the supplier used in any given instance of a purchase being made by the retailer is growing, and whether or not the right labels get hung on them. Descriptions and photos in maple reference books are adequate for telling what the cultivar is supposed to look like. A.L. Jacobson wrote in North American Landscape Trees (1996, Ten Speed Press, Berkeley) that the tree probably came from Bloodgood nursery, and that it was on the American market by 1936.
