Mame, Shonin, Dwarf?

[DreamerP]

I just wanted to know the difference between them. I feel they're all used interchangeably but that doesn't seem to be the case all the time? Like I see dwarf is referenced to leaf size? Does shonin or mame mean the same thing or just a smaller tree in general? Is it also a reference to a genetically modified tree or something like that?

 

[Paradox]

http://www.bonsaitreegardener.net/intro/size-classification

 

[DreamerP]

Thanks for the link, it helped with some questions.

Where does dwarf fall under?

 

[whfarro]

The term dwarf is associated with some varieties / cultivars of trees and is not in itself applied bonsai. Other then in reference to the type of tree being grown, styled and trained as bonsai.

 

[Anthony]

Mame' used to be under 6"
Pea was used to designate under 3" almost just a seed in a pot.
Good Day
Anthony

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

in garden nursery, & confir cultivar collecter circles, which is not bonsai per say, dwarf is usually used to denote a cultivar with a much slower growth rate than the wild type form of a species. Generally dwarf conifers grow less than 8 inches per year. Miniature conifer cultivars grow less than 4 inches per year. Usually these are chance genetic mutations, selected from wild trees, or witches brooms, or chance seedlings spotted at nurseries. Not enough money in landscape plants for much genetic enginering to have been done yet. As costs of producing GMO's come down I supose transgenetic trees will become more common. For the moment almost all are natural chance mutations. So dwarf and miniature are terms from the nursery trade.

 

[ColinFraser]

Dwarf isn't a very technical term, and it seems to be applied differently to different things; for example, one "dwarf" citrus tree might have the same size leaves and fruit as the non-dwarf, but not grow as tall at maturity (sometimes simply by grafting to less vigorous root stock). Another one might be called dwarf because it has small fruit, etc.
This renders the word basically meaningless unless you know more about the cultivar/variety it's being applied to.

 

[M. Frary]

I thought dwarf was a politically incorrect term. Along with midget.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

for plants, its cool, people, not so much.

 

[DreamerP]

Oh so a dwarf is a cultivar grafted plant and not a purebred type plant?

 

[ColinFraser]

Oh so a dwarf is a cultivar grafted plant and not a purebred type plant?

Again, not necessarily. Anyone can call anything "dwarf" - because there is no standardized meaning. One common use is for grafted fruit trees with small mature size, but it could also have been applied to a variety of conifer from seed with short needles, or even in the common name of a distinct species (think dwarf schefflera or dwarf jade).

Imagine that instead of "dwarf", a plant had a name or description that included the word "cool" or "neat". What would you be able to say about the properties of that plant based solely on those (perhaps arbitrarily chosen for marketing reasons) words? Nothing. The same can be true of "dwarf."

 

[DreamerP]

I see thank you