Acer miyabei

I always had the impression this was another small Asian maple. But here are some pictures of older specimens from the Morton Arboretum. Obviously beautiful, hardy, and certainly not small.

Scott

And here is a photo of the trunk detail.

Scott

It's fairly closely related to Field Maple - similar leaves, just somewhat larger. The UK champ is 14m tall and 50cm trunk diameter, but I'd suspect it gets a fair deal larger with the hotter summers it gets in the wild in Japan (and the eastern US). I'd say 25m tall is within its abilities.

Resin

Scott, I have a question about how much fooling around with a tree's environment an arboretum does? We used to farm just 5 miles south of Morton and I remember putting lots of lime on the alfalfa to sweeten the soil and increase yield. Up here we can go from piney woods with Red oaks to Basswood/yellowbirch/Sugarmaple mixed forest with Balsam Fir within 2 or 3 miles. Do most of Morton's plantings fall within a general range or do they make them happy. See, what I'm really getting at is to take a stab at a burr oak or two and maybe an American beech; both growing in as cold or colder zones and close but not native here. Ken

Resin,
I wondered as much. There are some Acer campestre specimens at a local park, and they grow in much the same wide, perhaps a little wider, as these A. miyabei. Bark was similar too.

Ken,
I doubt that most arboretums do that much in their larger plantings to accomodate specimens. Changing pH in soil over the long term is not easy to do, to maintain, or to control. I would suspect the soil at the Morton is naturally somewhat acidic, probably about 6.5, which is why you needed to "sweeten" your soil for crops. The vast majority of the world's trees, however, are very happy in slightly acidic soil.

I doubt it's a coincidence that so many of our country's greatest arboretums just happen to be located in regions of acidic soil. I hope Resin inputs here, because his experience is much greater than mine. Certainly more worldly. So much of the UK's soil is alkaline, I'd be interested in knowing what, if anything, Kew and other great gardens or arboretums do to placate temperamental plants.

Scott

This message was edited Feb 17, 2006 4:00 PM

Ken, are your soils that much different from the soils to the north where beech grow natively? Just west of Minneapolis, my American beech is of that genotype, and seems not to be picky here in my clay, neutral soil. ( If anything, it might be a bit alkaline.) I don't think you'll have any problems.

Re: Acer miyabei, our Minnesota Arboretum's tree is about the size of the one pictured above. I have one in my yard too. Mine has corky bark like a six winged euonymus:

Lefty, wow, a maple on steriods. Where did you get your American beech, if I might ask? Since they believe that an "ivory billed" exists; I'm hoping for that lost flock of P P. Ken

This message was edited Feb 17, 2006 5:43 PM

Hi DecuScott - I'd guess it has a lot to do with nutrient availability, but it isn't something I've investigated a lot. Most places here, if the soil isn't suitable for something, they either don't bother to try to grow it, or else just let it languish as a warning to others not to plant it. As you say, changing soil pH is not easy! (and very, very expensive, too)

The big trees over here (60m Douglas-firs, etc) are also all on deep, well-drained, slightly acidic soils in mountain valleys with high rainfall.

Hi Leftwood - that sort of cork winging is also common on A. campestre

Hi Ken,
The Fagus grandiflora was actually given to me by a friend as a small sapling. He grew it from seed from somewhere near the Porcupine Mountains. As luck would have it, it's a good thing you posted and I looked in this morning. I'll probably see him this afternoon at a Rock Garden Society meeting (program on primula's). I will see if I can get him to pinpoint the area.

Regarding the winged syndrome, there is a species of elm that sometimes displays this also. In fact, we have such a specimen in an out-field at our MN Arboretum. Many years ago, I had heard somewhere that florist were looking in to this elm for their use. Any updates on that?

Rick

Many elms will develop corky wings, especially on vigorous or juvenile growth. In the US look for wings especially on Ulmus alata, U. thomasii, and U. crassifolia. Some Asian elms also can be winged.

I started a thread about wings several years ago over on GW and got some great responses, but I don't recall everything discussed. If someone saved it I hope the will paste it in here.

Guy S.

Scott, on your way north you stopped to examine the Acer miyabei next to our nursery gate. It was dormant, so I thought you might like to see the same tree in fall color.

Guy S.

I've got to get me one of those!

Scott