AusBonsai

It must be a lucky time for me at the moment, as I was just given another tree making that 2 in as many days Anyway this one is from an air-layer off of my friends tree. It is a Lions Head Japanese Maple, or Acer palmatum "shishigashira" to be technical.

I will post pics either 2morro or Monday, but for now I was wondering if anyone can tell me anything about this variety of Acer palmatum? They seem to have much denser foliage, and I'm guessing they might be a bit hardier than other Japanese maples? The only reason i say this is because the foliage doesn't look as delicate as the standard Acer palmatum.

Any info would be great, as from a quick Google search I didn't find much info relating to Australia.
Thanks for your help,
Luke

Hi luke,
i would think maybe the original plant was a graft.

Hi Luke,

Please find the text from:

J. D. Vertrees, Japanese Maples, Timber Press, Portland Oregon, U.S.A., 1997.

--- Text starts, pages 137, 138 ---

The compact, stubby growth of this cultivar makes it very popular for small landscape planting, container growing, and bonsai. The outstanding feature is the close-packed arrangement of the leaves on the twigs and the close arrangement of the twigs on the branches, giving the compact and "stubby" character of this cultivar. The twigs are thick and short.

The bright green foliage is quite crinkled, which adds to the effect. The leaf is from 3 to 5 cm wide and about as long. Petioles are short and stiff, from 1 1/2 to 3 cm long. Each leave is seven-lobed, with the two base lobes much smaller. The lobes divide almost to the center of the petiole attachment. Each lobe is elongate-ovate, tapering to a sharp point. The sides are curled upward, occasionally convoluted, and in most cases forming a v-shaped trough. In addition, most leaves are further crinkled along the edges of the lobes, and the margins are also strong but irregularly incised. Most of the crinkled leaves display the veins promininently, providing an almost rugose-appearing surface. However, some leaves do retain a smooth appearance.

The deep green foliage is of heavy substance, firm to the touch. Color is maintained very well during the Summer season even in hot sun. There is very little sunburn of vigorous plants.

The Fall colouration is a striking combination of gold, suffused with rose and crimson tones. The entire plant takes on a different appearance during the seasonal change, making it quite prominent.

Usually a slow growing form, "Shishigashira" can exceed 3 meters with age. I have seen old plants, 3 meters tall, on which shoot had made strong growth for one season, thus adding considerable height. The plants then returned to the normal short, multi-branches habit.

Size of the plant can be easily controlled by the amount of fertility available. It shold always have enough nutrients to keep the good green tones in the foliage. However, the plant will stay quite short and dense if not over fertilised. In a very fertile location the tree can reach large size in a few years. To emphasise the character of the plant, training and pruning will accentuate the shrubby tufts of growth on the branches for a more outstanding effect.

This unique cultivar always attracts attention. It has been in cultivation for over 100 years and is popular around the world. Japanese literature lists it before 1880 and indicates its wide use both in landscape and bonsai culture.

There are two forms of "Shishigashira" in Japanese horticulture - "Mejishi" and "Ojishi" (O with a stright line on top -- dv_n note.) Please refer to these.

--- Text ends, pages 137, 138 ---

There is a striking "Shishigashira" by Mr. William N. Valavanis -- http://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/t7377 ... elp-needed

daiviet_nguyen wrote:Hi Luke,

Please find the text from:

J. D. Vertrees, Japanese Maples, Timber Press, Portland Oregon, U.S.A., 1997.

--- Text starts, pages 137, 138 ---

The compact, stubby growth of this cultivar makes it very popular for small landscape planting, container growing, and bonsai. The outstanding feature is the close-packed arrangement of the leaves on the twigs and the close arrangement of the twigs on the branches, giving the compact and "stubby" character of this cultivar. The twigs are thick and short.

The bright green foliage is quite crinkled, which adds to the effect. The leaf is from 3 to 5 cm wide and about as long. Petioles are short and stiff, from 1 1/2 to 3 cm long. Each leave is seven-lobed, with the two base lobes much smaller. The lobes divide almost to the center of the petiole attachment. Each lobe is elongate-ovate, tapering to a sharp point. The sides are curled upward, occasionally convoluted, and in most cases forming a v-shaped trough. In addition, most leaves are further crinkled along the edges of the lobes, and the margins are also strong but irregularly incised. Most of the crinkled leaves display the veins promininently, providing an almost rugose-appearing surface. However, some leaves do retain a smooth appearance.

The deep green foliage is of heavy substance, firm to the touch. Color is maintained very well during the Summer season even in hot sun. There is very little sunburn of vigorous plants.

The Fall colouration is a striking combination of gold, suffused with rose and crimson tones. The entire plant takes on a different appearance during the seasonal change, making it quite prominent.

Usually a slow growing form, "Shishigashira" can exceed 3 meters with age. I have seen old plants, 3 meters tall, on which shoot had made strong growth for one season, thus adding considerable height. The plants then returned to the normal short, multi-branches habit.

Size of the plant can be easily controlled by the amount of fertility available. It shold always have enough nutrients to keep the good green tones in the foliage. However, the plant will stay quite short and dense if not over fertilised. In a very fertile location the tree can reach large size in a few years. To emphasise the character of the plant, training and pruning will accentuate the shrubby tufts of growth on the branches for a more outstanding effect.

This unique cultivar always attracts attention. It has been in cultivation for over 100 years and is popular around the world. Japanese literature lists it before 1880 and indicates its wide use both in landscape and bonsai culture.

There are two forms of "Shishigashira" in Japanese horticulture - "Mejishi" and "Ojishi" (O with a stright line on top -- dv_n note.) Please refer to these.

--- Text ends, pages 137, 138 ---

There is a striking "Shishigashira" by Mr. William N. Valavanis -- http://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/t7377 ... elp-needed

Wow! thanks for your detailed response. I had come across Bill Valavanis's shishigashira but not in leaf. I did notice it has wire scars on the trunk, still a beautiful tree.

Also I did a search for that book you quoted from, and found it on "Google Scholar" http://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en& ... =onepage&q I think I will share this link in a thread of its own also, as I'm sure people will want to have a read if they havent already. Thanks again,much appreciated

Nice Find!

I found and bought myself one of these trees yesterday. I was looking for some information on this variety as well, when I came across your post Luke.

Any chance of and update Luke, how did it go over summer with our Adelaide heat?

There isn't much to update as yet. The one I have is from an air-layer which has only been severed from the parent tree since last winter (2011). I had it (stupidly) in full sun which probably wasn't the greatest idea. We didn't have the warmest of summers here in Adelaide as you know. But it suffered from burned leafs, and then had a burst of new leaves which I was stoked about, but they also suffered from leaf burn. Atm it has about half its leaves and seems to be going okay although I hope when it gets re-potted this spring it will gain its vigor. I will keep it in the shade this spring/summer.

The thing I loved about this tree I bought, was that someone had already given it a trunk chop at some stage. The tree is only half a metre high but has a trunk about 20mm - 30mm already. It will still need a lot of work but something good to start with I thought.

A nice tree to add to my collection anyway.

my garden tree ones are in colour atm they get beautiful autumn colour

I bought one a few months ago, it was a grafted tree so I air layered on which now has roots