Acer palmatum

Subjects maple ( Acer palmatum )

The subjects maple ( Acer palmatum ) belongs to the genus of the maples. Hailing originally from Japan, Korea and China green fan - maple has a height of up to 15 meters. The name derives from the Latin ' palma ' ( " palm " ) and refers to the leaf shape of the plant.

Description

The green fan - maple grows bushy with branches like an umbrella inclined. The opposite leaves are deeply divided to below the middle into five to eleven pointed lobes. The edges of the lobes are perforated. The leaves are up to 20 centimeters tall. The bark of the tree is dark brown and smooth on young wood, but is colored light gray with age and education of bark. The flower clusters have 5 petals and are formed in May to June. The genus counts up to 150 different species, with the varieties you count approximately 500 could grow during the maple in his home to large trees, this is rather rare for imported to Europe copies and breeds and takes a long time. The reason for this is that in Europe a total of cooler and drier climate, combined with shorter growing seasons. It blooms from May to June with red, later brown flower clusters. The fruits are fruits decay and split into two seeds, each with a "wing". The fan - maple thrives best in a sunny to partially shaded spot. The plant prefers loose, humus-rich soil with good drainage and slightly acidic pH. Waterlogging very rapidly leads to the death of fine roots by oxygen deficiency. The bud is yellow to bright red depending on the variety. The same applies to the very intense autumn color.

Ornamental plant

The fan - maple is primarily used and appreciated in Europe as an ornamental plant. The reasons are mostly due to the delicate shape and intense color in autumn. In Japan, he is the most important tree of the traditional garden design and announces the fall. There, the original green varieties are planted primarily. A wide use also takes place in the art of bonsai. From this connection, many cultivated varieties emerged that meet the requirements. Depending on the variety, the leaves have more fingers, more slotted, have a different color (some available only during certain seasons) or the bark is rougher than usual. Often, several features are combined. For the varieties, there is a system that classifies explicitly into categories.

The propagation of these cultivars is difficult because it is not unmixed possible by seed. When sowing is obtained for 50-90% of normal, green fan - maple, the rest are all sorts of varieties. In the commercial arena is seeded according to ordinary green fan-shaped maple are grafted to the branches then a mother plant. Regardless, it is possible to obtain unmixed plants through vegetative propagation.

Section

The fan - maple has a reputation for not to tolerate a pruning very well. There often is a purchase Notes that one should refrain from cutting. However, this is only partly the case, and also his great popularity among bonsai designers clearly speaks against it. After all, plants are regularly cut and partly held for centuries in their shape and refined this in bonsai. However, the section requires more care than other plants because the subjects maple leaves grow poorly from the old wood new shoots. You have to remember that - even though the subjects maple in Europe often much larger than a shrub is - but he 's just a tree. According hard it is for him to completely replace up to the root remote branches. Best to let the plant always something young wood with sleeping eyes, so that new growth can take place. In this case, but you should not cut too short because the maple back always dries to protect themselves something which possibly sleeping eyes may also be affected. When you cut one cuts back on young side shoots, then you should apply a wound closure means. The best for this are Japanese, obtained in bonsai dealers. The regular as Lac Balsam are useless and even harmful to the tree. Especially quickly closes the wound if there is above it a vital branch. The thence downward current building material promotes Wundkallusbildung and helps the wound to close quickly. In the bonsai design will each always remove the growing tip from a certain maturity to promote the fine branching in the new growth of all leaves. Thus, the maple is encouraged to awaken sleeping buds. He then forms shorter blade spacing and smaller leaves, two things that are fundamentally important in bonsai design. At the same time slows down the tree in its growth.

Cultivated forms

• ' Arakawa ' ( Korkrindenahorn ): The bark is borkig. The freshly expelled leaves are light green and turn to green later. The autumn color is pronounced.
• 'Atropurpureum ' (also called red-leaved fan - maple ): The fresh leaves in spring has a dark purple color and fades in the summer to a reddish green. In the fall it turns dunkelscharlachrot. The tree is 6 m to 7.50 m high and has a semi-circular to rounded crown.

• ' Beni komachi ': The cultivar name means red, beautiful little girl. It is a dwarf form. It has bright red leaves, their color during the year is dark and turns scarlet in autumn.
• ' Bloodgood ': up to 6 m tall tree with very strong red in autumn.
• ' Dissectum': slotted sheets.
• ' Katsura ', on the edge wavy, greenish- reddish leaves. The autumn color is yellow and orange color.
• ' Kiyohime ' has very small leaves. The autumn color is yellow.
• ' Koshimino ': up to 6 m tall with stems without leaves.
• 'Orange Dream' has bright green, deeply cut foliage. The fresh leaves are orange and yellow in autumn.
• ' Osakazuki ' has green leaves with a width of 5 to 10cm, their fall color is bright red.
• ' Sango kaku ' has coral bark.
• ' Shishigashiri ' has a very compact, stocky growth. The green leaves are wrinkled. The autumn color is yellow.