Curiosity got me and I did a little research regarding the term
"yamamomiji," a Japanese word meaning "mountain maple."
As expected the results are confusing and inconsistent.
1. Kokufuten albums.
List a single category for maples: "momiji."
However, once you look at individual trees it is different. Momiji is the
largest group in the deciduous section, some trees are listed simply as
momiji, Acer palmatum, some as momiji, Acer palmatum "XXXX," where XXXX is a
Japanese variety, AND interestingly enough some listed as yama momiji, Acer
palmatum v. Matsumurae..
2. Checking several of my Japanese bonsai books, I found that some list
momiji only, while some separates momiji and yama momiji.
In one particular book I found the two were listed separate and every one of
them was identified with an additional cultivar name written in kanji, the
Chinese characters used in Japan. Every momiji had a different cultivar
kanji as expected. All yama momiji were identified with the same cultivar
and the same two kanji. The first kanji in that combination is yama or
mountain as expected, while the second kanji is a very rarely used one that
I found in my specialized dictionary. It is pronounced as seki or shuku and
translated as "kaede, maple tree."
3. My best guess is that the so called Japanese mountain maple is "Acer
palmatum v. Matsumurae."
To add to the confusion, if you check Vertrees' "Japanese Maples, second
edition" that I consider as the definitive source, in his section Acer
Palmetum's taxonomic subdivision the breakdown is Palmatum, Amoenum, and
Matsumurae, with the last group containing nearly 80 varieties.
Just an aside: Unfortunately I have trouble keeping any of the Japanese
maples here in Oklahoma as the heat and wind burns up the leaves. I do have
a trident that is doing well.
Cheers.
Peter Aradi
Tulsa, Oklahoma
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