Maple identification any ideas anyone?????

Discussion in 'Maples' started by ROEBUK, Oct 16, 2014.

  1. ROEBUK

    ROEBUK Generous Contributor Maple Society 10 Years

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    Had this Maple for roughly five years now, bought it from a well known nursery in the UK in a small 5ltr pot and planted it straight out and basically left it to it's own devices.

    They seemed a little unsure of what exactly it was but told me this variety had been used in the crossing and propagation of the "Kaba" cultivar and this was one of the "throw backs" ? not 100% pure but had Kaba lines in it ,well this is not exactly a dwarf variety and has no crinkly leaves anywhere.

    Any way left it to progress over the years which it did nicely and finally decieded to lift it last fall because it was putting on quite a substatial amount of growth and i wanted to slow it down because it was developing a very nice canopy and i wanted to clip and trim in the coming years to develop this more.

    First picture is late spring 2013 lovely soft green palmated leaves, second pic is close up of the under leaves from last week , third pic also from last week note the stripped bark which is becoming more prominent.

    The last two pictures are from this morning, this is the only Acer in my collection which i don't really have a 100% definition of identity, so if anyone has seen something like this or has any idea what it might be please let me know.

    For the record this will turn into a lovely gold/orange with a light brown hue on the mid ribs when fully changed. One thing i do know it's not is Ki Hachijo already have one of these and this is totally different again.
     

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  2. maplesandpaws

    maplesandpaws Active Member

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    Whatever it is, it looks lovely! And that bark is very striking, does it go all the way up the trunk and into the branches too?
     
  3. emery

    emery Renowned Contributor Maple Society 10 Years

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    I don't see a graft mark, is there one under the soil? Yes, pretty stem indeed.
     
  4. maplesmagpie

    maplesmagpie Active Member

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    The leaves, color, and bark are so similar to Kihachijo... perhaps Kihachijo was the parent plant? How does it look different than your Kihachijo? I'm very curious... Kihachijo is one of the JMs I'm more than a little obsessed about.
     
  5. ROEBUK

    ROEBUK Generous Contributor Maple Society 10 Years

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    Andrea the stripes/lines do run all the way up the main trunk and along the secondary branches, Pic 1 you can make out the lines clearly on the branches Pic 2 Close up of the main trunk as you can see they are quite incised into the trunk. Pic 3 Just thought i would throw this one in looks a bit "arty" :)

    Must admit i do like this tree because when the leaves are gone i have another aspect of intrest to look at over the coming winter months.
     

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  6. ROEBUK

    ROEBUK Generous Contributor Maple Society 10 Years

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    Emery had a really good look today and i can't see any signs of a graft anywhere ,had a good look under the mulch as well and nothing, this would then suggest that this has been cultivated from root stock but it's interesting to see such a long stem before the leaf canopy, it's well over twenty inches.

    You could almost class this as a 1/4 standard tree ? I know i have some pictures some where of this tree when i first bought it, just a case of trawling through dozens of memory sticks and cards!!
     
  7. ROEBUK

    ROEBUK Generous Contributor Maple Society 10 Years

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    Maplesmagpie please see enclosed pics of my Kihachijo from this morning Pic 1 overall view showing the pretty yellow/gold overtones which are now starting to develop,more colourful than the other variety in my opinion.

    Pic 2 showing the bark and branches not so defined as the other tree,but the other tree only as the one large stem so you would assume more energy will be going into this? and in turn would create more striations on the bark where Kihachijo is multi branched.

    Pic 3 The leaves of both trees, top is kihachijo and the bottom the mystery tree!
    As you can see the there is a difference and also a slight similarity as well ?
    But the main difference for me is in the spring Kihachijo is a bright glossy green where as the other tree has soft matt coloured green leaves and very palmate in shape.

    I would think that there is a strong chance that Kihachijo has played apart in the cultivation of the tree, think i will go back in the spring time to the nursery and delve a bit deeper into this and see if we can come up with the answer.
     

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  8. maplesmagpie

    maplesmagpie Active Member

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    Thank you for the detailed pictures. There isn't much information about, or photos of, Kihachijo online. Especially not the bark. Your comparison is informative.

    Whatever your variety is, I like it a lot. The smaller leaves, the strong bark pattern, the shape (so far). It's a very attractive tree.
     
  9. AlainK

    AlainK Renowned Contributor Forums Moderator Maple Society 10 Years

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    I agree, it's a really beautiful tree.
     

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