Shishigashira, kotohime or whatever, I love it!

[Davidlpf]

On 24/02/2024 I purchase this little guy, labeled as Shishigashira

But leaves are quite different of my other shishigasira maple. I put it in a bigger pot in order to let it grow freely as much as it can for this season and let it express its real being.

by now leaves are less curly and more colorful,

Y think that it may be a kotohime instead.

Anyway, I'm very happy whit it, and I hope to do big things fom this humble beginning. It has small internodes, and really tiny pretty leaves

What do you think about this "little candy"?

Cheers!

 

[Shibui]

Very compact growth. These dwarf palmatums can make nice small bonsai but are often slow to grow and develop making the whole process a bit frustrating.
Long term development and maintenance is a little different to the larger cultivars. Needs much more thinning out and removing excess shoots than shortening shoots and branches.
I've also found some of these are not as hardy as the larger JMs so can die unexpectedly.
and good luck with this tree.

 

[rockm]

Even though this is a developed bonsai, it's worth reading through for some details on this cultivar--sun exposure, etc.

Refining A Japanese Maple Bonsai By Transplanting

September 2018 Joe Noga has been growing and training his Shishigashira Japanese maple, Acer palmatum ‘Shishigashira,’ for over 35 years. This dwarf cultivar of Japanese maple has been selected and…

valavanisbonsaiblog.com

 

[BrightsideB]

Even though this is a developed bonsai, it's worth reading through for some details on this cultivar--sun exposure, etc.

Refining A Japanese Maple Bonsai By Transplanting

September 2018 Joe Noga has been growing and training his Shishigashira Japanese maple, Acer palmatum ‘Shishigashira,’ for over 35 years. This dwarf cultivar of Japanese maple has been selected and…

valavanisbonsaiblog.com

I remember constantly moving my grafted one I am growing out around the yard all the time trying to find that spot it wouldn’t get leaf burn but still get some sun during summer. After reading this article it makes sense that it wasn’t just me lol! That’s a awesome tree thanks for sharing the link!

 

[Davidlpf]

Very compact growth. These dwarf palmatums can make nice small bonsai but are often slow to grow and develop making the whole process a bit frustrating.

@Darth Masiah 's kotohimes don't grow that slow click,click we'll see how this mine do.

Even though this is a developed bonsai, it's worth reading through for some details on this cultivar--sun exposure, etc.

Refining A Japanese Maple Bonsai By Transplanting

September 2018 Joe Noga has been growing and training his Shishigashira Japanese maple, Acer palmatum ‘Shishigashira,’ for over 35 years. This dwarf cultivar of Japanese maple has been selected and…

valavanisbonsaiblog.com

Thanks for your input, but the point is that the newone, doesn't looks like a shishigashira, despite de fac that it was labeled as one. If you put it next to a real one shishigashira, is easy to tell them apart. Shishigashira's leaves are a quite more curly and a bit less colorful.

Here you have a today video (04 march 2024)

IMHO The more they grow, the bigger will be the differences between them.

cheers!

P.S. BTW Mr Valavanis also have outstanding kotohime bonsai click,click .Every maple fan must read his blog MANDATORILY.

 

[Shibui]

It will be interesting to see how different these 2 end up.
Mislabelling somewhere in the chin of growers is a possibility.
Unknowing or unscrupulous growers germinating seed from shishigashira and selling the resulting seedlings is also a possibility.

Whatever it is it can still make a great bonsai. I'm not big on cultivar names. Provided the tree makes a good bonsai I don't care what the name is.

 

[19Mateo83]

It could very well be the “O Jishi” cultivar, it is a type of shishigashira that is also a dwarf and the leaves are not as curled. Sweet little tree!

 

[Davidlpf]

It could very well be the “O Jishi” cultivar, it is a type of shishigashira that is also a dwarf and the leaves are not as curled. Sweet little tree!

Yes, maybe, I had read that aret two tipes of shishigashira, but...

Acer palmatum ‘O jishi’ is one of the famous lions head maples. 'O jishi' is the male lion and 'Meijishi' is the female lion. Shishigashira means lions head, and while this term can be used to describe either cultivar it is generally used to describe 'Meijishi'. The leaves of 'Ojishi' are heavily crinkled but lighter in color and not quite as tightly crinkled as 'Meijishi'. 'O jishi' is also a much slower growing smaller tree. In full sun new growth has a red tinge to the tips of the foliage. Fall color is red and glorious. The leaves appear very crowded on the stem giving the tree a compact and congested look, with the short internodal length making it hard to propagate and contributing to the fact that it is rarely seen in nurseries. 'O jishi' is excellent for containers and makes a wonderful patio tree.

This one is not "crinkled " at all, once the leaves open, they are totally plain.


In the other hand, ojishi is hard to propagate, meanwhile kotohime cuttings take easily. This one seens to be a cutting, so, as Occan said, the simplest option most of the time is the correct one.

Cheers and thanks to all for your comments.