Does anyone know anything about Acer laevigatum? I purchased a 2 foot high one - its very pretty, but I can find nothing anywhere on it's culture or even what it looks like when mature. Any info would be greatly appreciated! New Acer fan in Seattle.
It comes from South West Asia and it is not highly rated in terms of hardiness (I believe zones 8 and above). Adult size 10-15 m. It has non-lobed, evergreen leaves (8-15 cm long and 3-3.5 wide) that resemble A. fabri and A. oblongum. The very youg leaves are pink-red. The bark is smooth, olive green. Hope you can grow it at your place. Gomero
Thanks so much - that's the info I was looking for. I fell in love with the foliage which is why I bought it. We are rated as Zone 8 here in Seattle, but since it is still so small I think I'll keep it in a container for another year or so, so I can move it around to warmer areas if needed. We do get some hard frosts here. If interested I will post some photos when it gets bigger. Acer fan in Seattle
Acer laevigatum - private collection. I realize that the juvenile leaves on this young tree differ somewhat from published photographs taken of leaves on mature trees; some of them measure over 19 cm!
Although this thread has been inactive for a while, you may be interested in some pictures of what I think is Acer laevigatum var salweenense. The plant was obtained about 15 years ago as "unknown maple - seed collected in Yunnan". It is virtually evergreen but loosing many leaves over winter, the last replaced in spring with the new growth. The bark looks typical "palmatum". It has flowered for the last few seasons but no seed set. The new leaves are extremely pubescent as shown. The leaves become green and have a much more papery feel compared to Acer fabri. Some of last seasons are still present in the first picture.
I have attached a picture in August (late winter in Australia) of Acer laevigatum var salweenense showing the changeover of old leaves. The tree is more or less evergreen. As shown in the picture, last seasons leaves briefly change colour before falling and being replaced by next seasons growth. The new growth is extremely pubescent with some pubescence retained along the veins all season.
Here is a picture of new growth of A. laevigatum, taken 15 May 2016. There is no sign of the pubescense seen in var salweenense above, although this is a bit later, last years leaves having by now completely dropped off. The first picture above is of the mature leaves, taken in April 2015. This plant is from seed ex N. Vietnam collected at 1800m. So far it is hardy here to winter outside in a protected place. I hope to get it into the ground after a few more years of getting used to the climate here.
Still alive, and in the ground, but taken a beating in the spring frosts. Took a major willow down which shaded it, I think it will appreciate more sun in order to ripen better. I'll try to report back in the spring; it still has a few leaves now that resprouted in late summer.
I finally ordered two, I always order more than one when I suspect they are a bit difficult to keep. Maybe one will be trained as a bonsai, although the leaves seem to be quite large. Anyway, I find it interesting to have maples that look different from the others, not only palmate ones... The ones I received had dried leaves on, I repotted them in a rather "rich" mix, spreading the roots a bit : potting soil, composted pine bark, some pozzolan and pumice, draining pozzolan at the bottom of the pot.
These look like they came from florama? I'm glad to see they redid the site, I was completely unable to see it for a time. Has it changed hands? I may order a couple of these myself, and a few other things, they have such a great selection of plants.
Right. That's the site I've never been able to get to work. Just blank page. I tried on my phone, in various geographical locations: nothing. Jacques insisted it was working and people are buying stuff, you're the proof! Does it work on you linux machine? I'm looking at florama.fr, which has the same stock but isn't the same people? Hard to tell.
I think Florama is the tree nursery, and naturoscope is the site of the botanical garden. The addresses are different but they're just a few kilometres away (the postcode is the same) : Florama : 3 Route du Luy, 64160 Bernadets Naturoscope : 42 Route de Morlaàs, 64160 Saint-Jammes Windows OS ;-) I can access to both sites (I use Firefox, but I've just tried with Microsoft edge, and it works with either)
OK, the trees are in a rather protected area and it's been rather warm for the season so far, but I didn't expect that at the beginning of February :
A friend of mine has this species acer and when I spoke to him a few days ago using video chat, his laevigatum was at a similar stage. Think next weeks weather will slow things down a bit.
Maybe yours are more mature ? I noticed that apple seedlings (several small-fruit species) are early to bud out whereas older ones open their leaves later. I don't really understand the logic in it for more mature trees can produce new leaves from dormant buds after a cold snap whereas two- or three-year-old seedlings are supposed to be more fragile. Perhaps just because the path of the sap from the roots and the wood to the buds is shorter ?
Maybe, but your new ones aren't yet acclimated to the cold north, and they may even have been inside an unheated greenhouse. I have noticed the same with young seedlings, no idea why though!
Yes, that's also what I thought. The dry leaves still hanging from the branches are rather typical of this. Now, they're in the real world ;-)
They seem to like their new environment. They're in full sun most of the day (today, 9-17, a bit longer in the middle of summer). I really like them a lot, and they have no leaf-spot, nor are scorched by the sun. I will protect them in the winter, I wouldn't like to lose them...
I haven't "protected" them yet, but the temperatures are soooo mild, +11.7°C last night, +14.8°C this afternoon.
I put them against the garage door, where's there's a micro-climate (it's 2 metres below the ground). So far the winter has been quite mild, there the temps went down to -1.5°C at night on a few days, not colder (-4.5°C on the stairs of my kitchen, facing north too). They both have some green leaves today, even if the smaller one seems to be more in the "autumn" mood :
The one on the right will almost certainly lose leaves, on the left, maybe. That's OK, they are deciduous in our climate. Properly hardened, and with roots protected, they can withstand -8C without damage -- though that probably isn't true for young ones like this! What they really hate is late, deep spring frosts. When the sap is running they're very vulnerable, and more so because they leaf our early. I thought we had lost one last spring, but it did come up from the root. Whether those stems had time to ripen is anyone's guess. Otherwise they behave like many of the "evergreen" maples, like A. paxii: the leaves turn brown and fall after a serious freeze. The only one here that really keeps it's leaves reliably even when it gets quite cold, is A. coriaceifolium. I'm enjoying the watching your lil'uns, thanks!
