Surprise with a montpellier arce's cutting

[Davidlpf]

Well, I have this little cutting in a pot, just in case I need it for a root grafting or whatever.


But surprisingly, the little fellow has decided, not only flowering, but also bear fruit.


Mother nature is amazing!

 

[AlainK]

It's all the more surprising to me than:

1/ I've always thought it was difficult to root Acer monspessulanum cuttings: I've never tried because I took it for grantedd and didn't want to try something time consuming for a very hypothetical result, but now I have to! When did you take your cutting? Any tips?

2/ None of mine has ever flowered, not even that big one that has been in the ground for almost 20 years after a couple of years in a pot. OK, I usually prune it to about 2,30 metres (about the height of the wall), but but once in a while like this year, I don't have time, and yet, no samarras.

Today, under a fine, persistant rain:



Maybe they're too comfortable here and don't feel necessary to produce seeds like they would in an environment where the risks of dying are too high

Or perhaps they don't have a hot and dry season long enough : although they can be perfectly healthy here (zone 8), they're originally from the Mediterranean area. Here, it's not as rainy as in Devon, but much rainier than in Spain (where the rain mainly stays in the plain, as I've heard )

And the soil shouldn't be a problem either: it's very calcareous, like in both the regions I took my seedlings/seeds from.

A mystery...

BTW: temps were up to 28°C (82.4F) last week, and it was very sunny. Today, it's raining and it's only 11°C (51.8F).

Climate change = yo-yo weather?...

 

[Davidlpf]

1/ I've always thought it was difficult to root Acer monspessulanum cuttings: I've never tried because I took it for grantedd and didn't want to try something time consuming for a very hypothetical result, but now I have to! When did you take your cutting? Any tips?

In fact, it is a sucker, that I took from another older when I repotted it (on february 2015) It was growing under the soil line, and had one little root.

The parent tree was collected from the wild, and I don't know how old it is.

Here is the parent, with the sucker attached in 2007 (red circle):


I believe that the sucker could had inherited the capacity of bear fruit form the old one. It's living for it own for three years, almos no thickening, no growth, but this year, flowers and samaras, a natural mystery

2/ None of mine has ever flowered, not even that big one that has been in the ground for almost 20 years after a couple of years in a pot. OK, I usually prune it to about 2,30 metres (about the height of the wall), but but once in a while like this year, I don't have time, and yet, no samarras.

Maybe yours isn't old enough to bear fruit, 20 years from seed is a relatively young tree, they can live for centuries...so it starting its life, certainly; or maybe is for your prunning schedule, the climate, the culture, the soil composition...
who knows! so many facts..

Thanks for your comments, and your yard looks very pretty congratullations.

Cheers.

 

[Davidlpf]

I had found another photo, on 27/04/2012


very, very slow growth

 

[AlainK]

very, very slow growth

When potted, yes.

When in the ground, once established, grows faster. The kind of tree to put in the ground to let grow for a couple of years I think.

 

[Davidlpf]

The kind of tree to put in the ground to let grow for a couple of years I think.

I wish I'll have ground to put it in! but I haven't
Here you have a photo next to the parent tree in may 2018

greetings