Japanese Plant Names

Acer palmatum 'Umegae'

Part of the fun of collecting plants with Japanese names is trying to figure out what the words mean. We saw last week that Acer palmatum 'Umegae' means “branch of the plum tree,” and my Japanese wife declared so when she saw the characters, as the English rendition is not always enough. My employees are both Hispanic and Caucasian, yet they all spout Japanese throughout the day when they propagate, pot up and fulfill orders, and it's necessary because half of my nursery cultivars are Japanese named.

Acer palmatum 'Manyo no sato'

Peter Gregory

The late English author Peter Gregory said that Japanese maple names fall into three categories: 1) you absolutely know what the name means, 2) you think you might know but you're not totally positive and 3) you have no clue and you never will. Whenever known, the Vertrees/Gregory Japanese Maples book provides a translation, but it's not always clear why a certain name was chosen. For example Acer palmatum 'Manyo no sato' means “the wonderful place of nature,” and my wife Haruko confirms that it is a “good” name, the opposite of say, “hell hole” or “homeless camp.” But I can stare at 'Manyo no sato' all day long and I wouldn't ever come up with a “wonderful place.” Haruko continues that Man Yoshu* is a collection of 4,000 poems which was gathered from (she thinks) 759-780, where manyo means a “lot of leaves” or a “village with a lot of leaves.” Therefore the name would be appropriate as a name for a hot spring location, or a retirement home or just some other peaceful place. So that's what she means by a “good” name, and I suppose 'Manyo no sato' would be placed in Peter's second category where one only “sort of knows” what the name means. My relationship with my wife would also probably fall into the second category where I know her well...or do I?

Man Yoshu poems on the pleasures of sake written in Chinese with Japanese letter next to them

*The Man Yoshu, the “Collection of a Myriad of Leaves” was the first and longest of Japan's poetry anthologies. It is regarded with great affection because the poetry is fresh and free of complex word-play and restrictive rules which dominated later periods of poetry. Modern editions contain 4,536 waka (short “song”), 4 Chinese poems and 22 passages of Chinese prose. Here are two examples:

Though the bright crimson sun

continues to shine

how sad that the moon

which crosses the pitch black of night

has been concealed from view

On the autumn mountain

the fallen leaves are dense

yet I shall seek

the wife I have lost

though I do not know the way

Acer palmatum 'Sawa chidori'

Every few years we graft a flat (25) of Acer palmatum 'Sawa chidori'. It is a “reticulated” cultivar, which means that it displays prominent greenish veins on an otherwise amber-pink leaf. It is a weaker and less dazzling cultivar compared to many other reticulates such as those in the “Ghost Series,” but I still like to keep a few trees around. Now, at the end of summer, it is not looking very fresh but then most maples don't after our 100F days. Nevertheless, 'Sawa chidori' saves its best for late autumn with striking scarlet coloration. The Japanese name means “marsh plover,” and in the photo above you can easily imagine a flock of birds rising from the water. For what it's worth the word plover is from Latin pluere “to rain,” and that from the PIE root pleu “to flow.” The European plover breeds in summer in the Arctic, and when it arrives back in Europe that migration often coincides with the start of the rainy season. Hmm...

Acer palmatum 'Beni yubi gohon'

I acquired Acer palmatum 'Beni yubi gohon' early in my career from a specialty retail nursery in Bellingham, Washington. Their source was a landscaper, a Mr. Nomura – who I never met – from somewhere in the Seattle area (I was told). Anyway, it was mislabeled as 'Beni ubi gahan', but the last two words don't exist in Japanese, so clearly there was sum tin wong. The correct spelling is almost obvious, for the name means “five long red fingers” according to V/G in Japanese Maples. Actually it doesn't, for there is no word naga in the name which is Japanese for “long” – my wife's maiden name is Nagamine for “long range,” as in a long range of mountains. Therefore beni yubi gohon is literally “red-fingers-five.” Incidentally yubi gohon is a common phrase that Haruko's mother uses, and it means five things that you want to do, or five important things, i.e. those which you can count on one five-fingered hand.

Acer palmatum 'Mikazuki'

Acer palmatum 'Mikazuki'

Sometimes I have given my introductions names that I later regret, and such is the case with Acer palmatum 'Mikazuki'. Don't get me wrong – it is a very worthy maple – but the name means “crescent moon,” as the original seedling presented a preponderance of sickle-shaped middle lobes. For some reason the thousands of grafted propagules don't display that notable feature, so the name must seem odd to those who know Japanese. Too bad – too late. In Japanese Maples one photo of 'Mikazuki' (page 187) by Peter Gregory is captioned as “spring color,” but in Oregon that would be very late spring or early summer. The second photo (by me) alleges it is “fall color.” Actually not, it was taken in early spring when 'Mikazuki' is most fresh.

Acer shirasawanum 'Kawaii'

Acer shirasawanum 'Kawaii'

It's been exactly 20 years since I first met my wife, Haruko. Her name means Haru (spring) and ko (child) for she was born in mid April. Spring Child: she has been an indispensable contributor to the Flora Wonder Blog with her research, as well as with her own knowledge, her experiences and her lively imagination. One evening, very early in our marriage we were strolling through the Display Garden and we passed an unnamed, unlabeled Acer seedling that I was anxious to observe. Haruko was very impressed with it, almost to the point that it astonished her. She squatted low to touch the foliage and exclaimed “kawaii,” and then looked up at me to explain that means “cute.” Cute then, well done Haruko. 'Kawaii' originated as a seedling in an open garden situation, so it is not of known parentage, but certainly an Acer shirasawanum (with its upright seed presentation) must have been involved. If correct, it is the first, to my knowledge, shirasawanum laceleaf, and one that is very cutely colored orange-red besides. Haruko sings with delight: “kaaa waaa eeeee.”

Acer shirasawanum 'Sensai'

Acer shirasawanum 'Sensai'

There is a sister seedling to 'Kawaii' but it didn't gain much traction because, though similar, I decided that 'Kawaii' was superior since it displayed its unique coloration more brilliantly. But, I know that sister 'Sensai' is in the trade because 1) I possibly sold a few, and 2) I know for a fact that it got into the hands of mrmaple.com – the Nichols boys from North Carolina. They have become the cultivar bank of my obscure as well as the obscura of others and, well, let those two energetic brothers try to sort out the maple diaspora. When Haruko first encountered 'Sensai' it too was an unnamed seedling, and she whispered “sensai” matter-of-factly. “Delicate” then. If a Japanese person is described as sensai, he or she has a tendency toward shyness or is possibly overly sensitive. To me that sounds like a wimp, and to some extent I would describe 'Sensai' as the wimpy second-sister to the more glamorous 'Kawaii'...but I don't dismiss her altogether; and who knows – maybe she is playing innocently simple, and really she is evaluating me.

Acer shirasawanum 'Johin'

If my heart could alone decide, totally without any commercial influence: what maple cultivar is my favorite? Well, I can't say, and of course not. However none would be more beloved by me than Acer shirasawanum 'Johin'. That too was named by Haruko and the word means “elegant.” Believe me, Haruko doesn't march out into the nursery seeking plants to name, it's rather that I solicit her opinion about an unnamed seedling, and then I'm liable to reiterate her first linguistic expression into a cultivar name.

Acer shirasawanum 'Johin' 

Probably Acer x 'Johin' is the more accurate botanical designation, based on its intermediate appearance between A. shirasawanum and A. palmatum. The seed parent was A. shirasawanum 'Palmatifolium' growing in the large garden of the late Oregon State University professor, Jim Baggett, and the garden contained fifty or more Japanese maples of various and sometimes unknown species. Prof. B. was a food scientist, and well-known for breeding improved beans and berries, but he dallied on the side with ferns, then Hostas, then bamboos, then Japanese maples, then I don't know what. Probably not in the order just given, but anyway he devoured his most current genera of interest, only to quickly delve into another. Besides the numerous maples in the ground, Prof. B. had an additional 500 Acer seedlings in pots – all in undersized pots – that required two hours of hand watering every day, every summer. He despaired at his cross-to-bear and was actually relieved when most of them perished in a particularly snappy Arctic blast that dropped us to near 0F. For my part, I was despondent because I was planning to make a financial offer for his entire seedling collection the following spring. But let's see, what I did get from Prof. B. before the rest of the collection died:

Acer 'Sensu'

Acer 'Johin'

Acer 'Kawaii'

Acer 'Sensai'

Acer 'Green Snowflake'

Plus others that remain unnamed.

Note that I didn't provide the specific epithet (above), but that's because I don't know for certain. However, in the commercial realm I declare them to be shirasawanum.

Acer palmatum 'Shu shidare'

Acer palmatum 'Shu shidare'

Acer palmatum 'Shu shidare' is a low spreading laceleaf of dense habit and the original seedling is planted next to my house at 4' tall by 10' wide in 22 years. One might be surprised to learn that the mother tree was 'Amber Ghost', but nearly every time we germinate from 'Amber Ghost' we get a handful of laceleafs. In spring and summer 'Shu shidare' displays green finely-dissected leaves with an orange-red margin, hence the name which means “orange weeping” in Japanese. The photo of the full tree shows that autumn color is a solid orange-red. By the way, when I gave the dimensions after 22 years, keep in mind that is how much the original has grown – it is a strong cultivar – but grafted plants would probably grow to 10' wide in a shorter amount of time. We sell a modest amount of the delightful 'Shu shidare', but never as many as the more commercial purple-red cultivars like 'Red Dragon' or 'Tamuke yama'.

Pinus parviflora 'Ogon janome'

Pinus parviflora 'Ogon janome'

Let's switch from Japanese-named maples to pines. Forty years ago I began Buchholz Nursery and I soon became familiar with variegated pines, but my heart rate nearly doubled when I first encountered Pinus parviflora 'Ogon janome' with its pretty bands of golden variegation on otherwise blue-green needles. The word ogon means “gold” while janome should probably be split into three words. Ja (“snake”) no (“of”) me (“eyes”). Remember that the Japanese brain does not process words and phrases the way we do in English. But anyway, “golden snake eyes.” I was given a dozen scions by a nursery friend from Washington state and I grafted them onto Pinus strobus, like we do with all of our parvifloras. My graft take was 100% but all of them – except one – died within three years because I cut the rootstock off completely. I just didn't know at the time and I learned the hard way, and now we nurse the variegated portion by leaving an amount of green rootstock for at least five years before pruning completely. I just came back from inspecting the one tree that thankfully did survive and it finally has a leader to about 10' tall, but it spreads to about 20' wide. I was surprised that the foliage had not burned on the south side because it has in the past and we've been very hot this summer.

Pinus parviflora 'Tenshu kaku' (AKA 'Goldilocks')

The way we operate on most Nursery projects is that I walk up and down the rows and beds and produce work lists about what to prune, pot, stake etc. One of the items was to prune off completely the rootstock of the 6 gallon Pinus parviflora 'Goldilocks' because it was time and safe to do so at 5-6 years of age. Two less-than-focused women decided (I guess) that they would also totally remove the rootstock for the two-year-olds in one gallon pots as well. Or they didn't “decide” anything – maybe they just spaced out. Both have since been replaced by improved workers. When I discovered their error I told them that the work list didn't list the one gallons, and that they (about 200) would all die. Throw them out and FOCUS on pot size in the future. They didn't say anything and probably wondered why I was being a grump. A week later I walked by again and they still hadn't been dumped. I don't think they believed me since the plants still looked fine. I snapped to “dump them now!” They became paralyzed, unable to act. I called for Seth – who is less threatening and more kind – and instructed him to assure them that the plants will eventually die, so do what I said and dump them.

Pinus parviflora 'Tenshu kaku' (AKA 'Goldilocks')

In both the Hillier Manual of Trees and Shrubs and the RHS publication The Encyclopedia of Conifers we learn that 'Goldilocks' is a synonym for what is more properly 'Tenysu kazu'. They are wrong however, and it is more likely 'Tenshu kaku'. I offer you a link to a January 25, 2018 blog, Partial to Pinus Parviflora where I present my case. And I'll repeat what I said earlier about the RHS, that maybe Haruko should serve on their editorial board to help prevent mistakes such as 'Tenysu kazu'.