Metro Maples - Shantung Maples  -   updated 11/23/09
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Here is a Shantung maple with fall color. This is the first cultivar of a Shantung maple  and is called Fire Dragon® Maple. It is a medium-size shade tree to 35 feet that grows in full Texas sun and was discovered by me, Keith Johansson, owner of Metro Maples.  Sales to the public began in  2006. This is the reddest Shantung maple I have ever seen, and was selected from among the thousands of seedlings that I have grown. It also has a near perfect leaf shape that makes a more elegant and cleaner looking tree. Shantung maples are in high demand in the lower midwest and are gaining popularity throughout the upper-midwest and upper-south to the east coast. This tree will prove to be tougher and just as beautiful as any maple growing back east. Hardy and heat tolerant, it should grow just about anywhere in acidic or alkaline soils. In 2008 I met a reknown Chinese botanist, professor and author and had him pronounce Shantung.  He clearly pronounced it Shan-doon.  The second syllable is slighty higher in pitch and slightly emphasized with a soft g at the end.

This is a close-up of a leaf of Fire Dragon® Maple in the fall. I have patented this cultivar (PP #17367) because of its superior fall color and great leaf shape. Expectations are very high. A-Rod couldn't bring a World Series to Arlington, Bill Parcells did not get a Superbowl victory for the Dallas Cowboys, the Mavericks failed badly in the first round of play-offs after winning 67 regular season games, Tony Romo and 13 Pro-Bowlers couldn't do it either, so can Keith finally bring a championship to Texas with this tree? METRO MAPLES INTRODUCTION - FIRE DRAGON® SHANTUNG MAPLE Planting tip: Best times to plant - early spring (Feb thru May) and fall (mid-Sept thru Nov).

Close-up of spring color on Fire Dragon® Maple. The new growth changes to a bright red in summer. Most Shantungs have a reddish-purple spring color and are sometimes referred to as 'Purple Blow' maple. Most do not have lobular leaf margins and have a larger leaf that resemble a Sweetgum. Most don't have downward facing basal lobes but have a leaf base that is straight across, or truncated. Most Shantungs also have a larger central leaf lobe while Fire Dragon® maple has very uniform lobes.

Hundreds of young Fire Dragon® grafts with spring color turning from burnt orange to a pink and then to bright red when growing vigorously in May. Shantung maples grow 2 to 5 feet per year. This tree has a superior root system with no faults except it cannot tolerate water-logged soils.

	And here is the early summer rose-red color on Fire Dragon® maple. The leaf is so distinctive, even when solid green, that I am always able to pick out this tree from regular Shantung maples. The new growth colors are from pigments that might help protect the new leaves from ultra-violet rays or from insects, until the leaf has a chance to photosynthesize and harden-off.
	Summer growth is darker red on Fire Dragon® maple but can be brighter or even mostly all green.  This picture was taken on a warm August day in a pH 7.0 soil.  Summer growth color can vary with temperatures, soil pH or nutrient charge, or the degree of sunshine.

Here is Fire Dragon® Shantung maple (left), compared to Bloodgood Japanese Maple, both in glorious fall color 2003. First grafts of Fire Dragon®where done in 2002, but when I saw this color I decided that I would patent this tree. The pinkish red color at left is 1 of 4 different fall colors you may get.  The next 3 pictures you can see the other colors it may produce..

September 1 thru November 30 in 2007 was the second hottest fall ever recorded in the D/FW area, yet Fire Dragon® maples colored-up like this on December 2. Reports have come in saying that Fire Dragon®  turns red from Oregon, New York, Virginia, to Arkansas and Oklahoma, and even all the way down to Houston.

Finding a consistent red for hot, sunny climates has been a challenge. Here is Fire Dragon® Shantung in the fall of 2007 with Ginkgo 'Autumn Gold'. You could also use a seedling Shantung to get the deep yellow colors to go with the red of Fire Dragon®. Most shade trees that turn red in the central and northern parts of the USA never produce red fall colors in the North Texas area.  Do not confuse Shantung with Sugar, Red, Silver or any other maple you have heard about.  This maple is totally different and you might be amazed at its beauty and toughness like I am.

The year 2009 produced a new fall color for my tree.  After 27 inches of rain in just the last 10 weeks, and endless clouds, and the first actual fall feeling temperatures in many years, some of my Fire Dragon® Shantung turned a most brilliant orange for a few days before turning red.

Here is the top branching structure on a Fire Dragon® maple showing color in 30mph winds. There are at least 3 different red anthocyanin compounds that can form in the fall based on soil pH and other factors. I have seen bright cardinal red, currant red with Chinese yellow margins, and reddish-orange, but never yellow.  Fall colors throughout this tree are always consistent on every branch and leaf, and color is not much affected by cloudy days or shade or high temperatures or soil pH.

	The attractive bark of a Shantung maple. Three year old wood is very hard. One of the least damaged trees from ice storms according to a Kansas State University study. Shantung maples grow in full sun in all soils except very water-logged soils. They can take the Texas heat and are very drought tolerant. They also adapt well to shade and can survive there for many years until they reach the sunlight. Although the wood is very hard the beautiful bark is soft and easily bruised.
	Close-up of Shantung bark at the root flare on a 12 year old tree grown with very little irrigation or fertilizers.
	A very pleasing summer green color. To me they shine in the sun and look like green diamonds. Shantung maples have a very efficient root system that is not aggressive, a waxy and thick leaf, and low transpiration rates to help them through hot summers. Shantung maples grow to 35 feet tall and wide with age in the lower midwest. They seem to grow faster and get a little bigger in warm climates than those being grown in cold climates. They are hardy to at least 25 degrees below zero.  Shantungs were one of the very few trees that showed no damage from the huge late freeze in April 2007 across the midwest to North Carolina that destoyed 2 to 3 years worth of tree crops. Summer and fall was very dry and hot until Decemeber, in 2005, when temperatures suddenly dropped from 90 degrees to 18, yet no Shantungs were damaged. My 20 foot tall Sweetgum test-plant tree died from this.

Large Shantungs are not messy and will drop all leaves and cover the ground with color. They are easy clean-up compared to other trees and decompose quickly. Here are regular and Fire Dragon® leaves after leaf drop. Acer truncatum has been used as a street tree in Shanghai for many years, tolerating the pollution, limited root space, and compacted soils.  In the difficult DF/W climate you should give your Shantung plenty of room for the roots to grow to give it the best chance of survival long-term.

	Fire Dragon® Shantung maple fall 2006 on the right with an Arizona cypress 'Blue Ice' in the center, and a regular Shantung, left.
	A branch in fall 2006 from one of the many vigorous young Fire Dragon® maples growing at Metro Maples. Glorious reds were seen on many of them even though it was the hottest year ever in Dallas/Fort Worth. Named from the revered symbol of its home country, China, the Dragon is considered a benevolent creature that brings rain!

Here is a picture of an Acer truncatum, Shantung Maple that I found at the Morris Arboretum, PA. It is a beautiful tree, grown with its natural low trunk shape. It was at the Arboretum at least by 1916 but probably there in 1906, making it 100 years old when I took this picture. Somewhere in its history a low branch was removed from the right-hand side to allow clear passage on the road. Pictures taken from the left side did not reveal branching, only foliage. The tree was 35 foot tall and 35 foot wide. Main branching occurred at 2 feet. Trunk diameter is about 2 1/2 feet. No surface roots or decay was observed.

Here is a variegated Acer truncatum that will be propagated if it can take the Texas sun. Another one that I found had so little chlorophyll that it would not grow at all.  I have many test plants and hope to introduce more cultivars as soon as possible.

	The early spring blooms are bright and very nice on Shantung maples and this picture does not do it justice.  Most observed flowers are male flowers so seedlings have not been a weed problem. When you compare a Shantung maple to other shade trees it will always come out on top. It takes the heat, cold, wind, ice, bad soils, doesn't get too big, doesn't have surface roots, is long-lived, nice blooms, nice looking bark, nice leaf, doesn't produce many seeds, and brilliant fall colors.  Negatives are that it will not live in saturated soils and the beautiful bark is soft.
	A close-up of a Shantung maple's half-opened flowers.
	A regular seedling grown Shantung maple in fall color. This beautiful tree has been grown with its natural shape and is in my display garden. The shape of a Shantung maple can be affected by its location but will eventually become rounded if given the room.

	Here is a close-up of the regular seedling-grown Shantung maple leaf color. It is as bright a yellow as it gets.
	Shantung in glorious fall color this year in neglected area along Dick Price Road. Metro Maples has the largest Shantung maples in the DF/W area for you to see.

Metro Maples - Shantung Maple Cultivars: Fire Dragon® Shantung maple (top left). Sales started in fall 2006. Golden Dragon (top right).  First sales to be fall 2009. Skinny Dragon (bottom right).  First sales to be fall 2009. Witch's Dragon (bottom left).  Not available. Baby Dragon (center).  Being propagated but first sales date unknown. This is the picture used in The Maple Society Article, Summer 2006, see below.

Fire Dragon® Shantung maple fall 2005. The long hot and dry summer and nutrient problems from being in pure sand produced a lessor red with yellow edges. Still a very attractive and distinctive tree.

WARNING: There are several garden centers and especially home improvement garden centers that are selling inferior maples that are labeled as Shantung maples. The two top left leaves are Shantung maples. The top right is a Norway maple that had a Shantung tag. The lower left leaf is probably a sugar maple that had a Shantung tag. Neither the Norway or Sugar maple are good trees for alkaline soils and will grow for only a short while and will not produce much fall color. Both the Norway and Sugar maple have smooth gray bark, whereas even a small Shantung will show some fissured bark and should be brown. If you purchased one of these mislabeled trees I recommend you return it immediately.

Here I am, 'King of the Shantung', climbing a Shantung maple. They make great climbing trees. This Shantung (ten years old as shown) was grown from seed in 1995 and planted in the year 2000 as a test. It proved to be drought tolerant through that very hot and dry summer without irrigation (110 consecutive days without rain), even though it was planted on the dryest possible place, the top of a sandy hill. Texas A&M has designated the Shantung maple a Texas Superstar®. Kansas State University has performed trials and declared it one of the best ornamental urban trees. The United States Department of Agriculture is currently researching Shantung maples and my Fire Dragon® Shantung to introduce tough, reliable, and beautiful trees that will not get into power lines. The future looks very bright for Shantung maples.

______________________________________________________________________________________________ Growing the Shantung Maple in Texas Conditions written by Keith Johansson for The Maple Society newsletter, published Summer, 2006. Acer truncatum, Shantung maple, is thriving and gaining popularity in difficult situations, like the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas area. I began commercially growing fifty plus varieties of Japanese, Shantung, and other maples in Fort Worth in 1994 under the name Metro Maples, but now I love the Shantung maple because of its toughness, good growth, and year-round beauty. Dr. John Pair, Director of Research, Kansas State University, told me back then at an American Rhododendron Society meeting that I should grow Shantung maples. He was one of the most respected horticulturists in the country and did the initial research on the tree in Wichita, Kansas from seed sent from the Morris Arboretum. Not only does Wichita get hot but it also receives severe cold snaps and strong winds. Many reports on the Internet claim the Shantung maple is cold hardy to at least minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit. In early December 2005 none were damaged by a sudden change from 90 degrees to 14 degrees, while many Japanese maples were damaged or killed. Initially, Shantung maples were hard to sell, as nobody knew what they were. To me it seemed like a tough and beautiful tree but many thought it might be another Silver maple that falls apart quickly in my area. By year 2000 the Shantung maple and only two other trees were on the Texas A&M University Superstar list and sales took-off. I have grown approximately 9,000 Shantung maples, which seed comes from China with a climate similar to New York. They are easy to grow from seed. Shantung seedlings have grown fast in the first year but lately they have grown slowly. I believe recent seed was harvested too soon. The average person with an established tree will get growth of 2 to 5 feet per year even in the alkaline black gumbo soils of Dallas or the white caliche soil of Fort Worth. They are extremely drought tolerant as I have watched several survive without water during my very long and hot summers in my sandy soil. In my area they do require irrigation for the best growth. In summer 2000 I went 110 days without any rain. Last year was the worst drought in fifty years and I began watering my larger trees in summer, once a month to maintain good health. I have grown thousands in full sun in black pots on black plastic and can get new growth, which does not burn, from April until the first of September. Shantung maples must like it hot and somewhat dry as my extremely sandy soil never holds any water and dries-out very quickly and because for me they reach over 20 feet in 7 years! The only native maple in my area is Acer negundo but is not a tree for most people. To the east and southeast where soils are acidic and rainfall more abundant is Acer rubrum and Acer saccharum spp. floridanum. To the south is Acer saccharum ssp. grandidentatum. In western Oklahoma there is a sugar maple that has survived the millenniums in a small canyon that is called the Caddo Maple. These all grow for me but are slower and are not quite as showy or as tough as the Shantung maple. Shantung maple branches are flexible but old wood is very hard, much like an oak. They can grow in windy sites. Kansas State University proclaims them also as one of the best performing trees in ice storms. The bark is two-tone brown, heavily fissured and very attractive. The root system reminds me of a Japanese maple and is not overly aggressive or shallow rooted. They tolerate pollution and fit the typical urban landscape. About the only thing they cannot tolerate is poor drainage. The bright lemon yellow flowers are produced in corymbs and this year one large tree had flowers for 10 days before the leaves emerged. Usually the flowers appear only a couple of days before the leaves. So far it appears that most seeds do not develop for me but this means that the tree is also not weedy. Spring and summer new growth is usually a reddish-purple, but reds and oranges are also seen. Fall color is a very bright yellow on about 90 percent of the trees. Sometimes reds and oranges are mixed with the yellow. Sometimes they are all red or orange but return to yellow the next year except for a new introduction I call Acer truncatum ‘Fire Dragon’™. This tree has always had red fall color. The other reason I choose to patent and propagate this variety is the beautiful leaf shape (see photo). ‘Fire Dragon’™ has smaller leaves that are seldom truncate and have backward angled basal lobes, lobes with prominent teeth, and do not have the larger central lobe that is typical of most Acer truncatum. The size and shape of the leaves give the tree a cleaner look. Summer growth can be a burnt orange or pink or bright red depending on the nutrients and the amount of water. Fall color is a cardinal red (RHS 822/3), or when I don’t have cool temperatures it is a currant red (RHS 821/3) with striking Chinese yellow (RHS 606/1) around the margins. ‘Fire Dragon’™ also appears more heat tolerant as it has a good ability to keep healthy new growth without wilting under extreme heat conditions. What seems so amazing is that 4 years ago I had just one small mother tree, and now I have over 3,000 of them! One of my first Shantung seedlings I grew is now 12 years old and turned out to be a nice little dwarf. It is always growing, trying to be big, but is only 3 feet tall by 3 feet wide. Its leaves are only 1 inch wide and new growth is a very attractive orange-red all summer. I call this tree, ‘Baby Dragon’. I have no plans for production but I do have some safely tucked away in another location in case a tornado takes mine out. I am also testing two yellow fall color cultivars. One has very narrow and wavy leaf lobes giving the tree a delicate appearance. This one is called ‘Skinny Dragon’. The second tree produces a high percentage of beautifully shaped leaves with backward angled basal lobes and teeth on all the lobes, which is known as ‘Golden Dragon’. All Shantung maples have polymorphic leaves in varying percentages. These two are not any better or worse for fall color its just the beautiful leaf that is desired. There are also several other interesting leaves that I have found including one that has deeply cut lobes with side lobes that curl downward, (see photo). My seeds produce leaves that are similar in shape to ‘Golden Dragon’ about 30 percent of the time. Hopefully, soon I will find a dissected leaf. I have two new variegated seedlings under review. One does not grow much at all and we’ll see what the other does. Recently I grafted an Acer platanoides ‘Crimson King’ onto a Shantung rootstock to see if this tree will then grow in our area. I’ve thought about what I could hybridize a Shantung maple with but there aren’t many improvements needed. Texans love fall color. Unfortunately the native trees, mostly oaks, hackberries, cottonwoods and pecans have poor fall color. They love Japanese maples but they must be shaded and carefully watered. Shantung maples act like a native and turn brilliant colors every fall. I am now planting Shantung maples all over the farm so when I retire they’ll be ready to put on a really big show that you’ll have to see to believe.

 

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