Harlequin Maple (Acer platanoides 'Drummondii')

I'm looking for the subject tree. It can be either in the Washington, DC area (Montgomery County, Maryland) or via mail order.

A couple of years ago they were at every nursery I went to. Now I can't seem to find them anywhere.

Invasive species (that applies to the cultivars as well!) - I'd guess the nurseries have taken it off their lists in response to this, possibly because of legislation.

Resin

Lets see if I understand this...the Crimson King is sold everywhere - as are the various green-leaved varieties. All of these are fertile. But somehow the sterile Harlequin is considered invasive?

Are you sure?

This is the information that I found....


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_platanoides

"Many cultivars have been selected, with distinctive leaf shape or coloration such as the dark purple of 'Crimson King' and 'Schwedleri', the variegated leaves of 'Drummondii' and 'Emerald Queen', and the deeply divided, feathery leaves of 'Dissectum' and 'Lorbergii'."

Yeah I know that wiki is not the best place for information but I just wanted the common name of the tree was all and that is The Norway Maple.



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

"Noxious Weed Information:
Acer platanoides L.

This plant is listed by the U.S. federal government or a state. Common names are from state and federal lists. Click on a place name to get a complete noxious weed list for that location, or click here for a composite list of all Federal and State Noxious Weeds.
Connecticut:
Norway maple Invasive, not banned
Massachusetts:
Norway maple Prohibited"

As far as I can tell the US government only has limitations in Connecticut and Massachusetts. I have looked at other sites too that list only those two states, but I could be wrong...

I have no knowledge of whether that particular cultivar is indeed sterile, but I imagine once a state decides to put something on the "illegal to sell in our state" list, they aren't going to take the time to go into detail on some cultivars of it are OK to sell and some aren't, it's going to be so much easier from their standpoint to ban them all.

Do you have a better list of "illegal to sell in our state" plants then then one that I use? Can you like the list that you use please because use the USDA list since I though they where the experts on this topic.

You have to look at each state's laws; there are so many, and even the federal government makes mistakes -

I don't think Maryland has banned much of anything, except snakeheads (fish). In Pennsylvania, they put an asterisk next to certain plants on the invasive list, to denote that a "species has cultivars that are not known to be invasive". This includes Acer platanoides, barberry, callery pear, burning bush, etc., but not the noxious weeds that actually are banned. The legislature here was hoodwinked by the nursery industry, in my opinion. Cultivars cross-pollinating is part of the nature of the problem, isn't it?

Were you talking to me Herby? I don't have any sort of list, I was just making the general comment that if a state bans a plant they're likely to ban all the cultivars, not make exceptions for a few that might supposedly be sterile. Takes more time/energy to enforce rules when there are a bunch of exceptions and most states aren't going to sign themselves up to do extra work!

That being said, the USDA site can be useful for figuring out what might be invasive in what areas, but just because something appears on a state's invasive list doesn't mean it's automatically banned from sale in that state. I don't think the USDA maintains the official invasive lists, typically they get their info from other regional sources, which are usually organizations that can perhaps influence lawmakers, but they don't have the authority on their own to ban things. Plus there are different levels of invasiveness--some things can be invasive but have fairly low environmental impact while others have high impact. It's the high impact ones that can eventually make their way to the lawmakers to get banned. So the best place to look for lists of banned plants would be to find a state's agriculture department website, that's where you'd be most likely to find what's actually been banned.

This is the problem I am having.

I'm in Maryalnd. MANY varieties of Norway maples are sold here. Harlequin (Drummondii) used to be sold here. I can find lots of wholesale sites for it - mostly in Canada and Texas. But I can't find a single internet retailer or a DC area retailer. there are lots of very fertile Norway maples sold in all the places I've been. I just want the one that is sterile. I'm planning to plant in the same area as the Crimson King so I have the two to play against eachother. I also have a dozen different varieties of Japanese maples. The idea is to have a grove with the high-color Norways to provide the shade for the delicate Japanese. Plan to also use alternating coral, red and yellow twig dogwoods - with varying variegation - (cream & green, white & green and all green) as a hedge/border to the property.

So all the discussion, though interesting, doesn't make a whole bunch of difference in the grand scheme of things. What matters is much more simple:

Where can I get the Harlequin Maple?

Sorry, I forgot that that was the main topic here. This is all I could find. The first site has a cost of $0.00 for all the plants but that might because it is asking me to log in.

http://www.stamnurseries.com/catalog/index.php
http://www.specimentrees.com/cart/search-prod.php
http://the-gardens.ca/index.php?moduleId=J8PJv2mj&browse=product&p=1NkradWl


BTW: You would think that some part of the government would keep an up to date list of banned plants...thats the government for you...

Being in the People's Republic of Montgomery County, Maryland, I'm used to the government trying to dictate all sorts of things. But, other than trying to ban English Ivy, keep kids from keeping reptiles, and taking away a surrogate child (chimpanzee) from the adoptive mother, I haven't seen a whole bunch on banned things. They tried to pass a law agains smoking, where a person could sue a neighbor if they could smell their cigarette smoke. And they have been trying to ban junk foods from the schools. But there isn't any growing stuff I know of currently banned - with the exception of those things that are federally controlled.

I got a catalog in the mail today and they carry this maple. They have a minium order total of $200 though.

www.lawyernursery.com

http://plants.usda.gov/java/noxious?rptType=Federal

http://plants.usda.gov/java/noxiousDriver

Are these the lists you are referring to? The Federal list supercedes the individual state's list. The state lists vary widely. They can add to the number of species banned/prohibited (choose your verb) but the states can't allow anything Federally listed.