Acer nikoense sp?

Check out the bark on this very beautiful close relative to Acer triflorum and Acer griseum.

Scott

Scott,

The name has been supposedly been changed to A. maximowiczianum. When I clicked on the picture my first thought was that it looks like the hybrid floating around under 'Girard's form' or 'Gingerbread.' This could be a fine form of the aforementioned species. Just for the err, um, record, where is this beauty located? Firing up photoshop to see if I have a raw image of this on my hard drive....... It appears that the image of it was in the Bernheim Arboretum folder that I accidentally deleted then overwrote the entire hard drive on my last trip. I hate when I do that. :-(

Regards,
Ernie

This message was edited Oct 10, 2006 7:02 PM

This was taken today at Boone County Arboretum. I think I have seen that hybrid you are speaking of, which is listed in Klyn Nursery's catalog as Acer griseum x Acer nikoense "Girard's Hybrid Paperbark Maple". I agree with you that it is very similar indeed (and also that A. maximowiczianum is now the correct name).

Scott

Ok, found the image located in another folder from another trip to Bernheim the month before. Silly me focused on the rear stem for some reason. Manual focus so no blaming the camera. 'Girard's Form' pictured.

Regards,
Ernie

Awesome. Is this a new introduction?

Not really new just hard to find. It's probably hard(er) to propagate also. When it's not backlit by the sun it loses some of the 'wow factor' which A. griseum does so well, in and out of sun. I suspect that most consumers would choose the species when presented with both side by side. The habit on Girard's form is a little more formal than the run of the mill paperbark. Apparently locusts like the plant in my crooked, camera falling off the tripod picture. Two bad pictures in a row......what did McDonald's put in my coffee that morning? Or perhaps I can claim artistic license on the latter?

Regards,
Ernie

Are all of the trees in that picture Acer max.? The one on the right has an interesting form, that's the one I would pick.

Prairiegirl,

Not sure about the farthest away but the 2nd one is the same plant if my memory serves me correctly. There were a grouping but I don't remember how many.

Best Regards,
Ernie

My grizzled old-timers' opinion of the above:

Scott has a photo of the Girard's hybrid selection of A. griseum x A. maximowiczianum. Nikko maple (Acer maximowiczianum) does NOT have the exfoliating bark character. It has a smooth gray bark like beech or yellowwood, which separates it from its close trifoliate cousins A. griseum and A. triflorum. Sorry, but that specimen is mislabeled here or there (at BCA).

MM's first picture is of the same selection. His second picture, I can't say since I concur with his assessment of it's quality.

We await a fine photo of the Nikko maple. I have slides which need to be scanned into digital format. I know where the finest specimen in Lexington is located, on the UK campus near South Limestone. I can't remember if I have seen the species at Bernheim before.

I have one (A. Maximowiczianum) in my front yard in Coldwater. The leaves are turning a beautiful pickish red color. I'll try to get a shot this weekend if I go out. I have taken a few shots of it during August this year. It is a young tree about 15 feet tall....

If it's a cross between them, wouldn't the peeling bark be a desirable characteristic? I know you probably think it's a dumb question, but I don't.

Actually, it's a Particularly Gratifying question.

And I hope you aren't confusing me with some past unsolicited IL-mannered commentary...

Beauty/aesthetics/etc. is in the eye of the beholder! I happen to like smooth barked trees, and I like exfoliating barked trees as well. If one is after exfoliating bark, then the Girard hybrid has desirable traits. That's the first fork in the selection road. Next, one could determine whether this exfoliating bark is better than what the other choices might be. I personally believe it falls far short in character when compared to most Acer griseum I've observed. It does have more cinnamon character and more exfoliation than every Acer maximowiczianum I've observed which has (and is happily supposed to have) smooth gray bark. So that's a toss up for why one would make this selection.

Now the "Aha!" moment...

The Girard hybrid selection is supposed to grow 2-3 times as fast as typical paperbark maple. Now, you have a marketable commodity with reasonably admirable bark characteristics, fall color, and maybe improved hardiness. There you go.

VV,

Nice job on explaining selection rationale! For the sake of relative peace here at the T&S forum, I don't really have any comment on whether or not my second image is as described. I have cropped out a chunk from the original image for inspection. I remember walking back by the grove an hour or so after taking one picture and noticing how much change some sunlight can make. But, I believe that the back lit image was taken on a different tree in the grove. I can't remember if it was because the light didn't hit one tree right or if the bark was nicer. So, I will let the jury of my peers weigh in and see what happens.

Regards,
Ernie

I wasn't confused, just sensitive I guess. Sorry. So let me get this straight, the tree I'm admiring here is Girard's Gingerbread, Nikko is a smooth character, and in your Vaunted Viewpoint, Acer griseum has superior flakiness, but Girard's grows faster and may be hardier, har har. Well, that was my Very Valiant attempt at simplifying it for the simpleton that I am.

I predict that Girard's is probably going to be very successful, based on this assessment. In fact, I would rather have Girard's, if I could have either but not both. But I would want one with multiple trunks, like the one to the right of Ernie's specimen.

I personally am eagerly awaiting the A. griseum x A. mandschuricum (and hopefully offspring) cross from Harold Pellet's Landscape Plant Development Center. I remember seeing a one gallon plant out at Heritage Seedlings and considering sneaking it off of the property. A couple of years later I asked the owner, Mark Krautmann, what the details on it were. He wasn't aware of the plant since he was letting LPDC use some space in a greenhouse. I almost forgot about the plant until the Northern Plant Conference this year where Harold mentioned it. If the crosses have that early and bright fall color and hardiness of A. mandschuricum with decent bark, it will be my choice for trifoliate maples. Except perhaps for that A. negundo with good fall color. As I look out of my window, A. mandschuricum is starting to color up but has never reached the brilliance of the plants that I saw in part shade.

Regards,
Ernie

This message was edited Oct 12, 2006 4:47 PM