Random Amur Seedling!

AboveBeyond

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I was walking around, happen to look down and noticed that there's a tiny Amur Maple seedling growing in my gravel! I've had my Amur maple for about 3 months so it must have been growing shortly after I got it. :D

I'll have to dig it up and put it in a pot. I like the trunk angle that it's taken too!

In the 2nd picture, it's growing beneath the pole on the left.
 

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Redwood Ryan

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I wouldn't be so quick as to jump to it being an Amur. It would be unlikely that it came from yours, especially in that short amount of time. It could be a Red Maple, unless you have adult Amurs where you live.
 

linlaoboo

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I like your Amur bonsai foliage is pretty compact compared to others I've seen. I was wondering if it dropped seeds to make you think the seedling was an Amur. I got 5 Acer Ginnalla seedlings from the internet in the spring and they're fast growers from what I can tell. Hopefully they can get as big as yours in a couple years.
 

rockm

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It is probably an amur. They are considered an invasive species in many parts of the Northeast.
 

rockm

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So do amur. Red maples don't have the extra incisions on the leaves...
 

AboveBeyond

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I've compared the leaves side by side and they look identical to my eyes but then again, I have newbie eyes for these kinds of things.
 

Redwood Ryan

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The tree hasn't grown any seeds and dropped them, has it? I would imagine not, seeing as it's not the time for that. That would be just about the only way for that little tree to make a volunteer appear, at least I believe it is.

Red Maples leaves are very similar in appearance to young Amur Maple leaves, and Red Maples can be quite invasive.
 

Bill S

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"and Red Maples can be quite invasive"

I'll vouch for that. HAve so many at times, I really don't pay them much attention, just know when young they look like amurs and tridents, I actually had to let one grow to see which seedling got yanked from the nursery can.
 

rockm

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Been growing amur for almost twenty years. Also am very familiar with Red maple seedlings. I'd bet that is an amur, based on the leaf structure. Might be wrong though. Been wrong before...:D
 

AboveBeyond

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Either way, I'm going to put it in a container and grow it out! :p
 

Bill S

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Rockm not intimating you are wrong at all, just adding I have been mixed up on these before. Either way not a problem, if it turns out to be a red, then it will need to grow longer, or should say bigger. AboveBeyond, just wait till spring, this won't have much in the way of root reserve, if dug now, it will need to be kept out of the winter this year, if it makes it.
 

Redwood Ryan

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If it was an Amur, how would it have gotten to where it is? Wouldn't there need to be wild Amurs nearby in order to send out volunteers?
 

Bill S

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Yuuup! Keep in mind these are very hardy, and if invasive in Va., could be here too. Haven't seen them in W MA. but Boston is warmer, a zone 6 for sure.
 

Redwood Ryan

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Yuuup! Keep in mind these are very hardy, and if invasive in Va., could be here too. Haven't seen them in W MA. but Boston is warmer, a zone 6 for sure.


Haven't seen wild Amurs around here, but definitely see Reds everywhere.
 

rockm

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Amurs are MORE invasive NORTH of Va. They are kept in check here by the summer heat.
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/terrestrialplants/woody/amurmaple.html

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ACGI


They are extreme cold climate plants and need heavy winters. They are hardy to zone 3 or so.

There don't have to be any "native" amurs for this species to take hold. A stray root cutting, or hard wood cutting mashed into the ground will root on this species in a matter of weeks, or less. Seen it happen.
 

AboveBeyond

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I looked around my backyard and I see other large mature maple leaves so the seedling is highly likely a red maple and not an Amur. With that being said, how do Red Maple do as bonsai?
 
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