Mistaken Identity?

Brian Humphrey

A few days ago I received an email from Englishman Brian Humphrey, a plant-friend/mentor, one of the few who actually reads and occasionally responds to the wandering narrative in the Flora Wonder Blog, and he is not shy to point out my mistakes and shallow assumptions. It would be easier and safer to discontinue the damn blog and block him from my horticultural future, except that I enjoy sparring with those more intelligent and experienced than I.

Acer buergerianum 'Wako nishiki' in the Humphrey Garden

Brian wrote:

Hello Talon

My letter to you of many years ago about Peter Dummer etc. featured in your last blog still reads quite well!

I am writing to you on another topic however. You are probably not aware of an excellent publication produced by the RHS called nowadays Plant Review for years it was called The Plantsman. I wrote an article in it on A. Wako nishiki which you sent us many years ago. An outstanding plantsman in the UK called Christopher Sanders (you may know of him) contacted me subsequently to say he had seen a remarkable white foliaged buergerianum maple in Japan a while ago which went under the name Hana chiro* sato.

This cultivar is described in Vertrees/Gregory book page 285. Looking into it more closely I have to say it seems to me likely that your plant is in fact not Wako nishiki but Hana chiro sato is this possible? Certainly both Vertrees and Maples of the World (van Gelderen et al) suggest Wako nishiki is dwarf which your plant is no longer so here. Our plant also matches Vertrees description with pink young growth at this early emergence stage. Our plant is now about 7 feet high and growing well looks remarkable for a period in the spring/early summer. But perhaps not as remarkable as the one Chris saw in Japan - picture attached

Best Wishes,

Brian

*To set the record straight “chiro” is not a Japanese word – it should be “chiru.”

Christopher Sanders

Acer buergerianum 'Hana chiru sato' as seen by Christopher Sanders in Japan

I do agree that the maple ('Hana chiru sato') that Christopher Sanders – whom I don't know, but would like to – saw in Japan appears to be the same as the tree you received from me many years ago. My (and your) cultivar named 'Wako nishiki' came to me from Howard Hughes of Washington state about 40 years ago. I met Mr. Hughes only one time when he was 92 years old, so he will be unavailable for comment unless he sets the record for longevity. I think H.H. was a bonafide pioneer with Japanese maple scholarship, and popularity advancement, and he and the late J.D. Vertrees exchanged maple cultivars and information, but I don't know the source of my alleged 'Wako nishiki' beyond (or before) them.

Acer buergerianum 'Hana chiru sato' from Yano Collection

Acer buergerianum 'Hana chiru sato' from Yano Collection

Some of the literature (Stanley and Sons, Plant Lust) suggests that Hana chiru sato means “snow on village,” and even the usually reliable MrMaple.com calls it a “bright white trident maple that will light up like snow in the landscape.” My wife Haruko shakes her head “no” and reminds me that hana means “flower” [yes dear, I know] and sato means a “country-side village,” the latter which she describes as a word with a “good meaning,” a pleasant connotation. Chiru is not literally snow – that would be yuki – but it refers to a “showering of blossoms,” so 'Hana chiru sato' means “a village with falling blossom (petals).” Japanese maple expert Masayoshi Yano in his Book for Maples reveals that the cultivar was discovered in 1960 by R. Hiyashida and then distributed by Kakujitsu En in Japan. Yano notes that when growing in containers “distinct color variation does not occur.” I should confess that I have never (knowingly) grown 'Hana chiru sato', and the photos above were taken at Yano's collection. A tree in the corner of his former property shows the shaggy trunk of a rather large, vigorous specimen.

Murasaki shikibu

Acer palmatum 'Murasaki shikibu'

Bletilla striata 'Murasaki shikibu'

Bletilla striata 'Murasaki shikibu'

Hana chiru sato is the 11^th chapter (the shortest of 54*) in the Japanese novel Tales of the Genji published before 1021 which are Faithful Depictions of the Shining Prince. The story, Genji Monogatari in Japanese, is derived from a poem that “catches the scent of memory, and favors the village where the orange blossoms fall.” It involves court lovers where one residence is filled with the aroma of tachibana (mandarin orange tree) flowers. The characters in the tales are not so easy for me to follow, but basically it describes a society of refined and elegant aristocrats. More impressively it was penned by the woman Murasaki Shikibu while a lady at the Japanese court. Even though the court's scholarly language was Chinese, her work was in Japanese, the language used by women which was not taken seriously, and also its prose was not considered the equal of poetry, but nevertheless it was a work of imaginative fiction. Today's Japanese people, including my wife Haruko, are extremely proud of this literature and some consider it to be the world's first novel. I became familiar with the name Murasaki (purple) shikibu because of a ground orchid, Bletilla, we grow, and also the variegated Acer palmatum 'Murasaki shikibu'.

*Some of the chapter titles are wonderfully evocative, such as #54 'Yume no ukihashi' – The Floating Bridge of Dreams and #41 'Kumogakure' – Vanished into the Clouds. And I can relate to other titles from a plant perspective:

Paulownia fargesii

#1 'Kiritsubo' – The Paulownia Court

Acer palmatum 'Utsu semi'

Acer palmatum 'Utsu semi'

#3 'Utsusemi' – The Cicada Shell

Acer palmatum 'Nishiki momiji'

Acer palmatum 'Nishiki momiji'

#7 'Momiji no Ga' – The Festival of Red Leaves

Pinus parviflora 'Aoi'

#9 'Aoi' – Leaves of Wild Ginger

Acer buergerianum 'Hana chiru sato'

#11 'Hana chiru sato' – The Village of Falling Flowers

Acer palmatum 'Matsukaze'

#18 'Matsukaze' – Wind in the Pines

Acer pictum 'Usugumo'

#19 'Usugumo' – A Thin Veil of Clouds

Acer palmatum 'Otome zakura'

#21 'Otome' – Maidens of the Dance

Acer palmatum 'Umegae'

Acer palmatum 'Umegae'

#32 'Umegae' – The Plum Tree Branch

Acer buergerianum 'Wako nishiki' (?) in the Flora Wonder Collection

Acer buergerianum 'Wako nishiki' (?) in the Flora Wonder Collection

Acer buergerianum 'Wako nishiki' (?) in the Flora Wonder Collection

My version of Acer buergerianum 'Wako nishiki – if that's really what I have – has striking white foliage with just a hint of lime-green in the veins. It is growing in full sun, and I expect that on Sunday (May 14^th) when we reach the mid-90s F, some of the leaves will burn. The same cultivar is in containers in a white-poly greenhouse and the leaves are already splotched with green, so there too, not distinctly variegated just as Yano mentions.

Acer buergerianum 'Wako nishiki'

Acer buergerianum 'Wako nishiki'

Acer buergerianum 'Wako nishiki', according to Yano, was selected in Saitama, Japan in 1975, so it was a completely different introduction than 'Hana chiru sato' even though they are similar. The less-than-reliable Dutch publication Maples of the World by D.M. van Gelderen et. al. describes 'Wako nishiki' as “very difficult to propagate and requires much care and attention.” I and other American growers would not concur, as long as one employs fresh seedling rootstock and, in my case, vigorous current-year shoots on stock plants from the greenhouse. Van Gelderen does not mention 'Hana chiru sato' even though his book was published in 1994, but he does inform us that 'Wako nishiki' is “now” growing in The Netherlands...and quite often the industrious Dutch have imported maples and other plants into their realm first, then they subsequently distribute them throughout Europe and into America. In other words, it is likely that my 'Wako' from Mr. Hughes proceeded via this circuitous Japan-to Holland-to America route.

Wako is a wonderful word, meaning “peaceful” or “shining light.” It should be pronounced “wahko,” and I cringe when some of my customers call it “wacko,” as that refers to a crazy (wacky) person or idea, and there's little worse than to be considered a scatty nutter wud with non compos mentis. Instead, wa also means “Japan,” an ancient Chinese name for Japanese people (Nihonjin), suggesting “a winding path that continues far away,” but obviously a far-away path that requires a boat.

Acer buergerianum

Acer buergerianum

I love Acer buergerianum, especially some of the older trees that I have seen in Japanese gardens, and also I'm fascinated with the myriad of cultivars with their unique characteristics. True that 'Hana chiru sato' and 'Wako nishiki' are so similar that their correct identities have possibly/probably been confused. Also, I'll always remember the late/great author and plantsman, J.D. Vertrees, when he wagged his boney white finger in front of my face and demanded-compelled me to honor and (hopefully further) the advancement of the Acer genus with respect for nomenclatural integrity. I'll stand by my record.

P.S.

By the way, Brian, you mention that your specimen exhibits “pink young growth at this early emergence stage.” Mine does not, at least to the extent that I can recall, even though each of ours originated from my one first collection. That's one example that illustrates the challenge to fathom a plant's accurate scientific identity, a process that endures.

Also, please forward this blog to Mr. Sanders, thank you.