Acer palmatum 'Ryusen'

Re: Acer palmatum Dragon Tears (leaf type?)

Very interesting observations. I recalled from near the end of the Vertrees book, the list of new Acer Palmatum cultivar is getting longer and longer.
Do you happen to know whether this 'dragon tears' red weeping tree has a dissectum leaf or palmatum leaf?. I can't tell from Heritage seedlings catalog's photo.
Thanks.

 

'Dragon Tears' has a palmatum type leaf: http://www.topiary-gardens.com/store-new/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=843

http://maplesforallseasons.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=12&products_id=70

 

I believe this is the same original tree, but in fall color. (Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture)

http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/heihei_2010/GALLERY/show_image.html?id=51531242&no=2

 

One interesting thing to note about the parentage of Ryusen is that it is reportedly a selection from Jiro shidare, which already has a pendulous form. So the genetics could be more useful for crossing (and so far in my trials there has been some carry over). I'm unsure of the parentage of Dragon tears, but I think it arrived indepently. This gives a potentially stronger gene pool to work with.

However, I am finding it difficult to get traits from other cultivars to carry into the pendulous offspring, mostly due to male-female flower expression. My experience with hand pollination of maples is limited, but hopefully it will prove to be more fruitful.

 

Matt, if you wish to further discuss the traits you are trying to introduce to 'Ryusen', or just breeding, genetics and inheritance as it applies to Japanese maples, please pm me.

 

I'm certainly no genetics expert, so I appreciate the advice. Thankfully I have a little time to work on this.

 

While on a school trip to England, I saw some very cheap J. maples in a supermarket (Morisson's, Woking). £10 for this non-grafted 'Ryusen', 50+ cm high!

 

AlainK..Saw exactly the same variety of cultivar at my local Morrisons in Bradford on Wedensday, same price £10 if it's still there next week i think we will have a venture,must have been at least eight on sale.

Some people might think these are mass produced and poorly rooted JMs? and are a bit of gamble, i bought a beautiful Kashima six years ago from said supermarket for £6.00 planted straight out and lifted in 2013 to large container amazing growth.

Picture of plant in summer of 2014 and it's now situated in my mothers friends front garden and is absolutely stunning. ps told her if she ever moves i'm taking the tree back:)

Mark

 

AlainK...Went back to the supermarket today and they were still there so picked a nice one out, plus i had a £5 off voucher from last weeks shop so put it towards this,so for £5 you can't not buy,will give it a try and see how it fairs.

Looks healthy enough very green though but that will soon go. Mark

 

Curious to know if anyone else's Ryusen is like mine - going from swollen buds about to break to fully leafed out in a bare week? No other tree I have moves as quickly as this one. Granted, it's still on the smaller side (a little over 3ft tall, 3g pot), but well branched.

 

Hi Mark,

I'm not surprised: none of the trees I got from supermarkets have died so far, but some I got from graden centres have, so...

Stunning indeed!

PS: Talk her into moving out ;-)

Alain

 

Yes, mine is the same also and it fully leafed out way ahead of other JMs.

 

Atapi, I have a couple that are earlier, but Ryusen is by far - as in leaps and bounds - the fastest once it gets going.

 

Lots of flowers this year; hopefully that means lots of seeds to collect this fall.

 

up date after six years ,i have prune Ryusen for have one form like original tree in Japan .is grown arond 210 cm in heigth and 50 cm larger is very reisistent to dry conditions and hot wind ,well tollerate my clay soil .i have another Ryusen he grown in free form,because i see in my life two millenium... :-) pics date one week ago

 

I'm planning to air-layer mine next spring for it had been staked when I bought it and two branches are forming two trunks. It give a nice impression when it's in full leaves, but I'd like to have a real "cascading" one with a very short trunk that I would display on a pole, or a balcony to enhance its very unusual characteristic.

EDIT:

Browsed back to the beginning of the tread:

"I know that there is a Patent on this cultivar but what if it propagates itself?"

I think that as long as you don't sell the air-layer, you can take, and cultivate as many as you like (?).

Anyway, AJNACER's post shows that air-layering it should be easy.

 

mine have a bamboo stick ;)

 

It's OK: it's just a different way of making the most of a tree's characteristics. ;-)

I have a small garden, about 300 sq. metres that I can actually use, some steps and a few other places with no soil. That's why most of my maples are potted - and why I love bonsai !

This one, in training, is about 30 cm tall:

 

So in my many visits to Home Depot over the past few days a particular JM caught my eye. It had a very nice form and regular green AP leaves with a habit slightly weeping but more flat than truly weeping or upright. I have been looking for a JM to fill a small space in my backyard, and decided to go back today and see if it was still available. I thought it was gone but after looking around for a few minutes I realized that they had moved some things around and found it and bought it. I am kicking myself for not buying it when I first saw it because when they moved it a nice upper canopy branch was torn off. I actually saw the broken branch mixed in with some other refuse in a pile somewhere. Anyway, this one was not identified in any way except for a generic Acer Palmatum sticker on the container. It's about 24" high, 30 " wide with a thick trunk and not staked.

As far as I can tell, only Ryusen has a weeping form with standard green leaves. Any other possibilities?

 

Acer palmatum jiro shidare is another weeping palmatum. The old ones I know of are mounding weeping more like traditional dissectum (pendula Julian) and not strict weeping like ryusen.

 

Thanks JT. Yes, I realized after posting this and additional research that it isn't Ryusen. I thought maybe Akita Yatsubusa, but Jiro Shidare may be it.

 

Well, I finally acquired a real Ryusen about a month ago at a clearance sale at a local nursery. It's about 3 ft. high.

 

I am not sure any Ryusen of yours have turned color yet, mine is still green but I started to see some sign of changing. This tree is leafed out early but slow to turn color.
My Dragon Tear shows a beautiful red this year but doesn't give a true weeping form like the Ryusen. Any idea?

 

I have two ryusen. The one that gets more sun has the best fall color and changes earlier. The other gets a lot of shade and it stays green for a long time and usually doesn't change color in time before the cold snow and wind damage the leaves.

Another way to get earlier fall colors is to plant the tree in a container. Container grown trees almost always get their fall colors earlier.

I have also found that fertilizing too late (especially with synthetic forms of nitrogen that are long acting slow release) in the Summer can cause a late or no fall show depending on how quickly winter weather comes. This combined with too much water can have a negative effect.

Lastly, if it's a new tree that was grown in a milder climate; this can cause a late or no fall show before winter weather hits. It may take a couple of seasons before the tree gets in tune with your climate.

 

This is my small Acer palmatum 'Ryusen ' a lovely weeping palmatum that I am training. Spring and Autumn are it's best time for showy colours. I have attached both photos to the thread. Please ignore the spelling on the second photo.
I will update the colours in October.