Tag Archives: Mono maple

I’m following a tree: November 2018

07 Wednesday Nov 2018

Posted by in autumn, leaves, nature, parks, trees

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At the end of September, various circumstances combined to prevent me from visiting my Mono (Acer pictum ssp. mono), the tree I’m following this year, but I did manage to pay it a visit on 19 October. And I’m so glad I did, as I managed to get some photos of it in all its autumn glory, before last weekend’s storm-force winds blew most of its leaves off.

181107 Acer mono (1)

So, here it is on 19 October, a blaze of orange loveliness …

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A closer shot of the leaves still on the tree, and another looking up through the canopy from underneath.

Some close-ups of the leaves on the ground. I love the variety of colours in these.

181107 Acer mono (12)

And here’s Mono on 2 November, a shadow of its former gloriousness, though what remains is a lighter, more yellow colour than before. It’s interesting to note, too, how more leaves remain on the left side of the tree, presumably because that side is a little more shaded and sheltered.

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Soon, all that will remain will be this carpet of leaves below the tree and skeletal branches above.

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I’m following a tree: February 2018

13 Tuesday Mar 2018

Posted by in nature, parks, trees

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I went to visit Mono, my tree, an Acer pictum, twice during February, both times on grey wintery rainy days so it’s not looking at its most attractive in my photos. But that did mean I wasn’t distracted by its foliage and instead had a good look at the tree’s structure.

180313 acer pictum (1)

As you can see, Mono has its roots firmly planted in the ground. It stands right next to a tarmac roadway but, luckily, that is only used by park vehicles and employees, and their driving and parking nearby doesn’t appear to have affected the tree. At the moment the grass around its base is somewhat sparse but that may change as the weather warms.

180313 acer pictum (4)

Mono’s trunk is thick and solid. It’s difficult to see the trunk’s texture as most of the surface is covered in lichens, mosses, ferns and liverworts – I’ll look at those in more detail in a future monthly post. The trunk is straight to about four feet, perhaps more, then, rather than maintain a single main trunk, it branches out into a multitude of thick and thin trunks, branches, and twigs.

I’m not sure what the smallest twiglets are that you can in these photos – perhaps the remnants of last year’s flowers / fruit. We shall have to wait and see. There are no leaves yet, though the buds are thick, with a slightly purplish hue, and look near to bursting.

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Mono is, I think, a favourite of the local birds, of which there are many. While I was surveying the tree and taking my photos, a Robin serenaded me loudly – though, in truth, it was more likely to be advertising itself to any potential lady friends and announcing to all and sundry that this was its territory / tree. A Goldcrest was also dotting about, foraging for the tiniest of insects – these little birds are never still, hence my lousy photo of it.

After a recent blast of extreme cold and snow, the weather now seems to be warming towards spring so it will be interesting to see what changes March will bring to my beautiful tree.

I’m following a tree: January 2018

08 Thursday Feb 2018

Posted by in nature, trees

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If I hadn’t decided to keep the title of my 2018 tree-following blogs fairly simple, I would probably have titled this post ‘The mysterious case of the tree with the confused identity’!

The tag on the tree, which is growing in Cardiff’s Bute Park, names it Mono maple (Acer mono). That seems fairly straight forward but, when I checked it on the Cardiff Parks website, I found it labelled Painted maple (with Mono as an alternative) and its scientific name listed as Acer pictum. So then I looked the tree up in the Cardiff Council Horticultural Database, where its common name is given as Korean maple and its scientific name as Acer pictum (a.k.a. Acer mono). So then I went to The Plant List, which is meant to be the definitive list: there I was informed that Acer pictum is the accepted name and Acer mono is a synonym.

180208 Mono maple (1)

And then, after a bit more searching, I found an extremely helpful blog post from the JC Raulston Arboretum at North Carolina State University, where they use the common name Painted maple and explain its scientific name as follows:

It was first described in western literature by the Swedish botanist Karl von Thunberg in 1784 but was widely known as Acer mono after it was introduced to the west in the 1880s. Its name continues to cause confusion with some authorities using A. pictum to cover the entire species while other botanists break it down into several subspecies including A. pictum subsp. mono.

And, in response to a question from a reader:

… many taxonomists disagree on the name of this maple. According to van Gelderen, they should all be Acer mono since he contends that Acer pictum is an invalid name. In any case, there is much disagreement over whether they constitute different varieties or subspecies or are just part of a large very variable species. A. p. subsp. pictum has short hairs on the back side of the leaf, while A. p. subsp. mono has no hairs on the abaxial surface.

180208 Mono maple (4)

As even the experts can’t agree, for the twelve months that I will be following this magnificent tree, I am simple going to call it Mono. More next month …

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