Collect or not?

[Javaman4373]

I have been poking around in our landscape and always keeping an eye out for potential bonsai material. Today I noticed two trees that I am considering collecting. The first is a maple, that presents problems and is a rather bizarre specimen. It is growing in the bank of the brook and any feeder roots will be some distance from the trunk. In the first photo, the roots growing to the right are going into the bank. The long surface root on the right grows right into the brook. It does have a root going down into the soil about 10 inches from its source. Two questions: 1. can you envision this tree in a pot, maybe a root over rock?, and 2. do you think it could be successfully collected?

Tree number 2: This tree has a nice flare at the base and some movement of the trunk. I am not sure of the species. The elms of this caliber on our land already have a rough bark. The teeth on the leaves seems to fine to be a beech. In any case, the collection of this tree seems it would be straight forward.

 

[Paradox]

The one with the weird bent root, I would pass on. It won't turn out as well as you might think.

The other one with the cutter on the soil horizontally in front of it (4th pic) however has some very nice movement and I would consider collecting it at the proper time.

 

[TCEvan]

Symmetrical double serrated leaves on the second one make me think a yellow birch.

 

[Paradox]

The one with the weird bent root, I would pass on. It won't turn out as well as you might think.

The other one with the cutter on the soil horizontally in front of it (4th pic) however has some very nice movement and I would consider collecting it at the proper time.

Correction - 3rd pic - 2-1

 

[BobbyLane]

Second one looks like your native Hornbeam.
The muscular trunk is a dead giveaway.

 

[19Mateo83]

I would definitely collect that hornbeam, there’s potential there. The maple not so much.

 

[Shibui]

The maple would probably transplant OK. The maples I have worked with do not need feeder roots to survive transplant. Roots can be chopped back real hard and new roots just emerge from the cut ends.
However, that does not mean it will turn out as a great bonsai. As others have intimated, it takes more than an unusual root structure to make a good bonsai. Most growers would rather have a great nebari with plenty of evenly spaced lateral roots than a weird root structure.
Root over rock is not made simply shoving a rock under some random roots. Good ROR should have the roots clasping the rock on all sides to show that the tree grew there from the start. Best ROR are started with very young, flexible roots that can be draped over the surface of the rock to get close contact all the way down to the soil.
That one would probably make a better exposed root style than ROR but even that depends what trunk you have or can develop.

 

[Tieball]

I would collect the second tree, #2.
I would pass on the first tree.

 

[Javaman4373]

Thanks for the comments. I think I will pass on the maple and collect the second tree this fall or next spring. There are not many hornbeam trees in the area, but there is one large one on the bank of the brook within about 75 yds of the second tree. I will do a close comparison of the leaves to see if it confirms Bobby Lane's ID.

 

[Javaman4373]

Confirmed tree 2 is American Hornbeam. The foliage is a perfect match to a larger specimen that is clearly A. hornbeam.

 

[rockm]

Confirmed tree 2 is American Hornbeam. The foliage is a perfect match to a larger specimen that is clearly A. hornbeam.

The name of this species is not American hornbeam. It is Carpinus Caroliniana. Not really all that important, but might have returned a better search result. FWIW, That is pretty obviously a hornbeam. The ridges in the trunk and smooth bark are typical. It's habitat is typically along stream beds and wetter bottomlands around creeks and drainage areas. Where there is one, there are typically a lot more.

They're easy to collect, even large ones--in the spring. There are extensive posts here on how to collect them.

The other tree is not worth the effort. It has extremely weird roots that aren't all that attractive.