Whe I was in the horticulture trade more than thirty years ago we sold A. p. “Osakazuki” which in the leaf always looked like the photograph on the left. In recent years all I see for sale as “Osakazuki” are plants with leaves that resemble the photograph on the right. To be fair they are both spectacular in the autumn or fall. I have heard talk about an imposter from New Zealand but I’m sure there is someone here who can shed some light on something that has puzzled me for a while. Thanks in advance!
I would be really interested to know the answer to this also. Have an unnamed graft that I thought might be ozakazuki but was told the leaves of osakazuki were different. The leaves that I have look more like the leave that you show on the left. The leaf on the left would be an amoenum leaf shape and the one on the right would be matsumurae. That is my guess on referring to Vertrees 4th edition which lists O sakazuki as an amoenum. Just saying!
It is hard for me to make any difference of grafted Osakazuki from reputable source and seedlings from the same trees. What makes Osakazuki diferrent from any green Amoenum?
It is very likely that the autumn/fall colouring will not be as reliably brilliant or the same tones in the seedlings.
Well I do think there's quite a possibility for dilution here. The true Osakazuki is certainly amoenum and not the leaf on right in Ken's photo (as he clearly knows!) I've heard stories of "my osakazuki doesn't color properly -- well it's probably your soil" which suggest imposters. There is also a "red form" -- leaves more reddish leafing out -- which is sold, so there are clearly at least a few clones on the market. Like tiko7 I sometimes get red FC amoenum seedling that would pass for the cultivar, so it's easy to imagine the dilution. The most popular JMs tend to adopt the cultivar name as a sort of brand: "Bloodgood" for any red amoenum form, "Sango kaku" for whichever coral bark, in the same way we call facial tissue "Kleenex." The true form also bears brilliant red samaras, which make a gorgeous contrast with the green and provide a lot of summer interest.
A picture of one of mine a few years ago with the big green leaf (sometimes nearly as big as your hand) with the pretty samaras to show the contrast in the colours as emery remarked.
I had not paid attention of the leaf shape so I checked my Osakazukies :) The first pictures show that the shape is as the leaf on the left posted by Ken. The green plants(pic 4 and 5) are Оsakazuki seedlings and it is clear that they do not inherit the mother tree leaf shape.
In the photos forum, mr.shep says there are four forms in the trade-- "There are at least 4 forms of Ōsakazuki, I have two of them. One has a light green leaf, one a darker green leaf with almost a blue cast to the bark color. There is an akame form with rose-pink highlights on the leaf margins with a golden cast to the rest of the palmate leaf as well as beni form, a pink-green as seen in the early Spring only. " Acer palmatum 'Osakazuki'
I'll have to check mine before it gets dark, but since it's in a big plastic pot and when it doesn't rain I water it from the tap, since the water here is very hard, the colours of the leaves are usually paler than, say, in Scotland.
Here is a prime example of the problem. Home » C. V. Starr Virtual Herbarium Notice the spelling on this site / picture record (as referenced by @mr.shep) this listing spells it as Ohsakazuki "Oh" boy and it mentioned that the example is a cross seedling which resembles Ken's picture in the 1st post (leaf on the right). To give credit, the example in my link mentions the tree is a seedling, but how many took scion wood from it and started grafting it as Acer palmatum 'Ōsakazuki'. I have always known it to be like the left leaf in the first image of Ken's first post, large and wide, not deeply divided. Like a large sake cup! But when I check Book for Maples I'm a bit surprised by the photo and notice a cultivar of similar name at the bottom of the page. Then I found another picture online that is "Osakazuki" in spring color and a picture of fall color: 大盃王(O-sakazuki-o)的介紹 @ 楓槭的世界 :: 隨意窩 Xuite日誌 I have mostly only seen the version Bizon sells, see link, then 4th picture: Bizon Nursery - Catalog I would like to think that Book for Maples has the right one, but who can know for sure?
Book for Maples mentions on same page 246. "There seems to be three cultivars named 'Oh sakazuki' One of them is 'Akame'. (Note: Listed under 'O sakazuki akame'). The early Spring foliage is deep red-brown, later becoming green throughout Summer. The Autumn leaves are beautiful red." The author never mentioned the name of the 3rd? Is it Acer palmatum 'Ichigyoji'? The author of the blog talks about how it is a related species of Osakazuki. Several photos of spring color and close up of leaves: 一行寺 (Ichigyo-ji)的介紹 @ 楓槭的世界 :: 隨意窩 Xuite日誌 大盃(O-sakazuki)與大盃赤芽(O-sakazuki-akame)的介紹 Translated talks about the history of Osakazuki and O-Sakazuki-akame: It is an ancient species known for the most typical autumn leaves, and is a very famous species with its intense deep red color. It was recorded in Japan's "Herbal Supplements" in 1851 that it was officially registered in Japan in 1882 and wasrecommended by the Royal Horticultural Society's Garden Merit (AGM) in 1993 . It represents the "King" among a variety of Japanese maple trees. It is a wonderful fall color among all the Japanese maple trees. Some experts call it the most vivid and densely colored leaves of the Japanese maple trees. The beautiful autumn colors. It is likened to a "burning bush", even if dusk is still burning like a fire. It is a good background tree in the summer. It is a maple tree belonging to a larger leaf species and is resistant to cold and strong in growth. Since the base of the blade sometimes assumes a cup shape, the species is called " saki-cup-like leaf " or " O-sakazuki ". Compared to O-Sakazuki-akame,some people call it " O-Sakazuki-midorime. " " O-Sakazuki-akame " is a species introduced by New Zealand . It is characterized by the fact that the sprouts of spring buds are longer than the " O-sakazuki " and their adaptability to the environment The area is also wider than the " O-sakazuki ".
Would you buy this for 'Osakazuki? Photographed in local garden center, this is the only form I come across for sale these days. At least in this part of the world.
I feel like that looks more like 'Osakazuki akame' to me but I do not have first hand experience with it. Acer palmatum ‘Osakazuki akame’ | Iseli Nursery And look at the picture, tree at bottom of page in this attachment
Hello y'all,been away a long time,hope you are all keeping well.I can see the enthusiasm is still there! Just thought I'd mention,I seem to remember Mr Shep saying the true cultivar had enormous leaves,far bigger than mine and any I've ever seen.
Stumbled across this thread because my new Osakazuki had atypical fall color this year and wanted to investigate. For what it's worth 95% of the leaves on mine look like the picture on the right, but a few also look like the left. Perhaps younger growth is less rounded, as I have read about that happening with some japonicums.
@Arlithrien your photo looks very muck like an Acer 'Osakazuki' in autumn. Just mention though, that Osakazuki is not a japonicum. It is in the Amoenum green group.
Some years, the color is less brilliant red than others, based on rain, wind, temps, etc. I think it looks like O sakazuki also. I didn't think you were suggesting it's a japonicum (as mentioned, taxonomically speaking it currently comes under A. amoenum), but it is very usual for young leaves (or young plants) of Acer to have somewhat distorted leaves.
I hope I have the right cultivator as the lineage of our ozakazuki dates right back to the author ( Vertrees) of his first edition book. Late spring and an early fall pic.
I didn't mean it was a japonicum, I meant other species of japanese/Korean maple with the more rounded leaf shape (basically what could be dubbed a full moon maple) shows the more rounded shape on mature growth. I don't have proof or even personal anecdote of this, but it's an explanation to a phenomenon in other closely related species.
I believe 'Osakazuki akame' is completely mixed with the original 'Osakazuki' in the trade, and has largely replaced it, at least in UK and Europe. It gets sold at all the places that stock mass market plants as regular 'Osakazuki', and by at least some of the speciality maple nurseries also. The main differences are the orangey spring colour of 'Osakazuki akame', slightly more deeply divided leaf lobes, leaves less likely to be cupped and leaves not being as large as the original. The imposter is broader in habit and the red fall colour seems slightly more towards orange also, compared to the tone of red in the original. It is believed that during the latter part of the 20th century Duncan and Davies of New Zealand exported to Europe and America many thousands of the akame form under the regular 'Osakazuki' name and this genetic material has subsequently been propagated by other businesses as regular 'Osakazuki'. Reading between the lines it is likely that this plant is easier to reproduce in commercial quantities than the original. Iseli Nursery is one of the few places that lists 'Osakazuki akame' as itself and their spring and autumn pictures match exactly my plant bought as regular 'Osakazuki' in the UK. See here: 'Osakazuki akame' at Iseli I will show a couple of pictures from autumn 2009 showing an established 'Osakazuki' at Westonbirt Arboretum, which is likely to be the true form. The leaf on my hand is at least 18cm (7 inches) across:
