Help ID'ing the Cultivar of this Japanese Maple forest planting please;)

D'Angelo

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Thanks....would just like to know the variety, is this a red maple or green?...... I recently acquired this and curious....time will tell right?;)
 

Poink88

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I don't think this is red.

I agree, great group planting you got there. :cool:
 

namnhi

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It does look like rough bark variety. Even if it is it still takes a long time to bark up. Nice group though.
NN
 

Dav4

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I should have been more clear, but I don't think this is a variety of A. palmatum...I think it is the species, and the color and shape of the leaf of A. p can vary quite a bit depending on genetics, sun exposure, etc. Technically, there are no "red Japanese maples", but there are red leaved cultivars, like A. p "bloodgood" (this one is not "bloodgood"). Again, my guess is your planting is made up of A. p seedlings or cuttings. Mind you, I'm just guessing:D...but there are thousands of cultivars of A. palmatum, so it can be tricky to tell them apart.
 

rockm

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This is a "green" maple variety. The red tinge to the new leaves goes away as spring and summer progress. Fall color is a crap shoot, depends on a few things. As Dav said, it's not bloodgood (which is iffy as bonsai material at best)

There is no real way to tell what cultivar this is (and it really doesn't make much difference) without the original owner of the planting telling you. And even then, they may be mistaken.

FWIW, the "plain old JM" is hardly a bad thing. The more specialized a cultivar is, the more issues it can have (leaf burn, apical dominance, etc).
 

Martin Sweeney

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D'Angelo,

While I agree with Dav4 that it is likely that this is the plain old species Acer palmatum and a very nice forest planting, I am wondering if there is a possibility of it being Coral Bark or Sangu Kaku Japanese Maple.

In the first picture, there is some red to the bark. Is that prevalent, especially closer to the branch tips? The foliage looks somewhat similar to the foliage on my little airlayered Sangu Kaku. This seems unlikely, as Sangu Kaku is not used in bonsai much as it is usually found grafted onto regular Acer palmatum root stock.

Anyway, good forest. I enjoyed seeing it, thanks for posting your pictures.

Regards,
Martin
 

rockm

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Didn't notice the red twigging. I'm with Martin, Sangu Kaku.
 

johng

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My guess is this is straight A. P. no culitvar. I think the color and "bark" on the trunk are the results of less than good care over the last 10 years or so. It is certainly a nice forest, forgot to look where you are from D'Angelo, but I would be careful not to over expose this planting to sun when it starts to get warm again.

John

just looked at your location...Mass...you should be fine...there is no real sun that far North:)
 

Martin Sweeney

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Johng,

There is plenty of hot sun up there, just a lot less hot air.

For the last 4 or 5 years or so, my parents have had higher Summer highs in Watertown, Ct. than I have had in Waxhaw, NC. Still, I would rather be up there for the Summer than here. Of course, you live in just about the hottest, most miserable place in either of the Carolinas, so I understand your viewpoint. :p

Regards,
Martin
 

Martin Sweeney

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Dav4,

I am 45 years old. I was born, raised and lived in Connecticut for 22 years and then moved to and lived in Charlotte then Waxhaw NC for 23. I am no longer sure what I am, but I know I now am happy to be able to wear shorts most of the winter! Perhaps damn yankee is the correct term.

I am fairly certain that there is literally more hot air in South Carolina than in Massachusetts. Although figuratively, there's nothing for hot air like a Masshole.;)

D'Angelo,

I am sorry I did this to your thread.

Johng,

You know I still want to go Cypress collecting down in Columbia with you.

Regards to all,
Martin
 

Martin Sweeney

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D'Angelo,

Please see attached below poorly taken pictures of my Sangu Kaku airlayer's leaves and trunk. Mine has had leaves since probably late February/early March, so they no longer look as colorful as yours. They are also a lot smaller.

Thankfully I still have this airlayer as the mother tree died in the landscape. It was an anniversary gift to my wife for our 2nd anniversary. I need to grow this one up and plant it out to replace the dead one!

Regards,
Martin
 

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D'Angelo

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WOW!!!...Thanks for all the great input guys, and the laughs about Massholes and hot air...lol...all that aside, I think I'm more confused now than before;)....all in all..I'M happy with the group planting and will just work on making it look better and see what happens as far as color!!:cool:
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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Hi d'Angelo
I have been shopping and aquiring a few Acer palmatum cultivars lately, but the longest I have owned a maple has been about 4 years, so I am not an expert. From reading the catalogs, to really make an educated guess at which cultivar your maple grove is, you really need to take photos of the leaves and twigs in spring, summer, fall and twigs in winter. Once you have a set from all 4 seasons, you can sit down with various catalogs and go through. The selected cultivars have different colors for each season. Many may have leaves like yours in spring, but then some in summer green out completely, some don't, some in fall will turn bright red, some will be a blend of sunset colors, some will be the purest of yellows. There are thousands of named maple cultivars, and sorting through them is no small task. Vertrees wrote a complete listing of all JM cultivars known at the time he wrote, it has been revised once or twice, this would be the book to borrow to do some research for sorting out which cultivar it could be. (not sure you want to go through the expense of owning this tome, it is geared toward landscape use of maples)

So the easiest thing to do is just assume your grove is just the normal JM from seed and enjoy working with the really nice grove you got. Also, pay attention to the other trees, if there is slight differences in color through the seasons between the trees of the grove, then they all are most likely to be from a batch of seeds, each being genetically different. If they are all the same, then they came from rooted cuttings off the same tree. Regardless, at least for spring foliage they seem well matched to each other, like they might be cuttings off the same tree. That's good.
 

johng

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Johng,

You know I still want to go Cypress collecting down in Columbia with you.

Regards to all,
Martin


Are you sure there is not too much hot air down here for you?:) June is coming!
 

Martin Sweeney

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Johng,

Waxhaw is upwind from Columbia for at least 1/3 of the year so I have built up a limited tolerance/resistance to it. I just hope I can survive that icky swamp. Will my feet get wet? Will there be bugs?

I'm not a Robertson for goodness sake!

Regards,
Martin
 
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