Jackwood - Cryptocaria glaucesens

[delisea]

Maple, juniper, pine, maple, juniper, pine, maple, juniper, pine....that's what I love about about modern bonsai it is such an authentic reflection of the natural world...

kyuzo Murata, one of the fathers of modern bonsai, said nothing could be better than to bonsai a species that hasn't been done before. He also reckoned about 1/3rd of the plant species in Japan could make good bonsai.

Jackwood, Cryptocaria glaucesens is a common temperate rainforest species that ranges from the south coast of NSW up into Qld. It used to be felled for its ornamental timber and has black fruit that native birds love. Plants of this genus are sometimes called native laurels because of the pleasant smell of the crushed leaves. It is a large tree that grows to 30m.

This one is about 2.5 year since collection.
front

Jackwood feb 2017.JPG

back

jackwood back 2017.JPG

interesting old bark

jackwood bark.JPG

I am pretty sure the leaves can be reduced haven't quite figured it out yet. There is a way to go with this one, but it has been great fun so far.
Cheers, Symon

[Kevin]

Nice work Symon,

I'm loving your collection.

Kevin

[The Surgeon]

Hi Symon,

Thanks for sharing. I have never seen one of these as a bonsai previously, in fact I'm not sure i have even seen on of those trees previously. Love the leaf shape and the two tone colour between new and older foliage.

Thanks again

[GavinG]

Thanks for posting. There are soooooo many possibilities out there...

It looks Lilly-pilli-ish, or a bit like a Water Gum. Anything that works for them should be worth a try. Although I've never heard of anyone trying to defoliate them, it might be worth testing on less valuable examples.

Gavin

[boom64]

Great work Symon ,The texture on the bark looks fantastic ,good luck with leaf reduction.. I will keep an eye out for these and take a lead from you and try something from the unknown. Cheers John.

[Boics]

Epic!
Love something a bit different!

[delisea]

Thanks for the interest guys. One of the fun challenges of a new species is figuring out what processes work. For this one to try to get leaf reduction this year I defoliated in spring followed by reduced feeding. It did look great defoliated, but the new leaves just kept expanding. Taking a lead from the Japanese I do leaf cut in summer to maintain vigor of inside leaves and lower branches.

Gavin, water gums appear to reduce leaf size with constant tip pruning even with high feeding, maybe that's what I should do with this as well?
Cheers, Symon

[Booyong RC]

Very Nice i have a few different rainforest species that grow around here. That is the first jackwood i have seen.

[delisea]

This one started its spring growth so I removed most of the old leaves. This has allowed me to look at the structure and do some wiring. As a benefit I'm hoping fewer leaves will reduce thickening of the branches. Some of the lower leaves were left to strengthen these branches.

After a tragic bending incident last year I'm in process of rebuilding the crown.

export1570924657446.jpg

Criticism welcome.

Cheers,
Symon

[Keep Calm and Ramify]

Nice one Delisea - never heard of these.
Did you instigate the split trunk yourself?

[delisea]

No KCR, I live in a rural area and a council road side mower did that for me. That's why I collected it, it was only a matter of time before it was woodchips.

[SquatJar]

Lovely tree Symon

[delisea]

Thanks SqatJar!

[melbrackstone]

Impressive ramification happening with this tree Symon! Looks like a fine specimen.

[delisea]

It is hard to photograph such a large tree on a verandah, but you get the idea. She was defoliated so I could get a look at the branch structure and tame some unrulyness.

I'm trying a low water approach to reducing leaf size. This is perilous but seems to be working. I would not recommend you try this at home.

IMG_20221105_095818.jpg

Cheers
Symon