Botany Photo of the Day will have brief written entries on weekends, holidays and my vacations from April through September. I'm on vacation today. – Daniel
A few words of thanks are in order to Jacki of Oregon, aka jacki-dee@Flickr for today's photograph (original | BPotD Flickr Group Pool). Much appreciated!
The question as to whether 'Fairy Hair' (or 'Fairyhair', if you prefer) is the original name for this cultivar is a matter of huge debate among maple collectors. Unfortunately, clarity is not easy to find when the history of a particular Japanese maple cultivar may span three continents and decades, if not centuries, of time. Discussions about the possibility of this cultivar being Japanese in origin (with an accompanying Japanese name) can be found in this thread on the UBC Botanical Garden forums and this thread on The Maple Forum.
One final reminder to local enthusiasts: the Collectors' Plant Auction and Gala takes place on Thursday evening. If you're interested in this maple cultivar (whatever its true name), one will be available at the auction. This event is a major fundraiser for the garden, with the net proceeds from the evening supporting the garden's new Carolinian Forest and the Garry Oak Meadow and Woodland Project.
Fairyhair was discovered and introduced by Buchholz Nursery, Gaston Oregon. It is very diffrent that Koto Ito Komachi, this can be determined by the much narrower leaf size. Fairyhair sister is another seedling that looks simular the the above plants, however it has never been propagated.
Thanks, Eric. It's a beautiful plant.