Japanese Black Pine "Mi Nishiki"

[clem]

very nice tree. It could become a nice hankengai or kengai style.

 

[TR8Driver]

very nice tree. It could become a nice hankengai or kengai style.

Thanks, hankengai is where this has been going, but going full kengai could also have some merit!

 

[TR8Driver]

I realized the lighting in my garage doesn't really let you see the bark on this tree, here is a closeup outside.

 

[clem]

amazing bark, amazing tree

 

[Dabbler]

This ones bark is a bad as it's bite!

 

[clem]

@TR8Driver do you know the meaning of "Mi" in "Mi Nishiki" ?
I know the cultivar "Nishiki" ( = corticosa) but is there any difference with the "Mi Nishiki" cultivar ?

 

[TR8Driver]

@TR8Driver do you know the meaning of "Mi" in "Mi Nishiki" ?
I know the cultivar "Nishiki" ( = corticosa) but is there any difference with the "Mi Nishiki" cultivar ?

Hi Clem,

Don't know the meaning of the name.

-Darrell

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Somewhere I read that the originator, Chuck Shane(?) had a cultivar known as Nishiki, but had slightly different characteristics than another known Nishiki, and so he named his Mi Nishiki, as a word play on ‘my’ Nishiki, and propagated it as a separate cultivar. I‘ve looked around for where I read that, but haven’t stumbled on it yet.

 

[jszg]

Brian is essentially correct;

Hi Clem,

Don't know the meaning of the name.

-Darrell

From Brent's website (the conifer specimen page):

The origin of these trees is from a single tree owned by Chuck Shane in Sebastopol CA, now of North Carolina. Chuck obtained his tree from his sensei probably about thirty or forty years ago. As was common among Japanese bonsai masters in year's past, they would select a tree with outstanding characteristics and propagate it for themselves. Thus, these trees became cultivars, although they were not always named, other than to attribute the tree to the master and designate as a Nishiki Kuro Matsu, or Yatsubusa for example. So, Chuck began calling this cultivar "his nishiki". On a whim I suggested he name it 'Mi Nishiki' and the name stuck.