Uncommon species - Aglaia Duperreana

[souvik1811]

Hello All,

I have never seen this species - Aglaia Duperreana - being used in Bonsai. At best, I have seen some posts with its cousin - aglaia odorata.

This is very common in the nurseries here, and they are sold as dwarf murraya paniculata - which is an understandable misnomer as the foliage look quite similar, only smaller. Given the natural size of the tiny leaves, they lend themselves quite well to creating Shohin size bonsai, and the trunk and branches are very bendable too. From what I have seen so far, this also seems to hold deadwood well. The trunk also has a gnarly bark and it naturally ramifies very well. But the smaller branches are really hard to wire and get into shape without damaging the delicate branchlets.

Strangely, there is very little information online about using this species as bonsai, so I thought of putting this out here, in case someone else is interested to try this out.

This specimen was bought a year back and only an initial styling was done. This spring I saw new shoots starting to appear, and I did another round of styling. It stands at 7 inches tall. I attached three photos in different lighting (I am still figuring the photographing side of bonsai out), but the pads seem to be not clearly visible on the photos. Any suggestions are welcome!

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Well done. Really cool tree!

Obviously we don’t work this tree in our neck of the woods, but do have a couple thoughts.

First it really helps to know if the tree is apically dominant or basally dominant. If apical, keep the tree apex in check while developing the lower branches. If Basally dominant keep the lower growth in check while developing the apex.

Can’t tell from the image, but my bet it’s apically dominant, yet not totally certain. In that case suppress the top growth.

Second the tree needs ramification and thinning the thick clusters of branchlets. To create ramification cut back to two leaves (leave a small stub), two branchlets should grow out from the base of each leaf below the cut. Repeat.

Be sure to prune to transfer energy to the weak branches.

Next prune to ensure there are only two branches at each junction, only exception is in t(e apex.

Third keep developing the stub into a second trunk mirroring the style of the main tree.

Finally Try really hard to keep your wiring discipline, same angle, same spacing, maintain contact with the branch and avoid crossing over. Each wire further out on a branch should be a lesser gauge.

Hope this helps.

Cheers
DSD senda

 

[souvik1811]

Thanks a lot for your comments.

Regarding the apical/basal dominance, I am not quite sure. Everytime I've seen this species, it always looked bushy (in nurseries and google images). So it doesn't seen to be very apically dominant. I'n not sure if it's the natural tendency or if it's always pruned to look this way. Anyway, I think I'll find out during this spring.

Point taken regarding the ramification. This definitely need some more thinning out. I fear I've damaged a lot of growing tips already during the wiring, so probably I'll wait for the first flush to go through before I cut back.

Regarding the stub on the bottom right, I think it's dead. :| It has had no growth at all in many months. If it looks green, its probably because of a back- branch at the same height. Ill probably try to peel off the bark to see how it behaves - there's so little information out there about this species, that at this point everything I do is an experiment.

About the wiring discipline, I know it's horrible. Trust me, I tried. The plant is so small and the branchlets are so tiny that it was already so frustrating to wire them. I wired a ficus this morning, and it was like a bath of fresh air after the aglaia last night.

 

[Robert J. Baran]

Aglaia odorata Lour. (chaudocensis, duperreana, oblanceolata, pentaphylla, repoeuensis, sinensis), Chinese perfume plant

Odorata is the accepted species name. Duperreana is one of the synoynms.

 

[souvik1811]

Aglaia odorata Lour. (chaudocensis, duperreana, oblanceolata, pentaphylla, repoeuensis, sinensis), Chinese perfume plant

Odorata is the accepted species name. Duperreana is one of the synoynms.

Oh I see, thanks for the correction. I saw wikipedia had two separate dedicated pages for the two, which got me confused.

 

[souvik1811]

After another check, wikipedia (sorry if my source of knowledge is not reliable enough) says A. Odorata has leaves that are 5 to 12 cm long. Maybe someone who has one can confirm. Mine, however, has leaves that are 1 cm or less - leaf reduction is virtually unnecessary.
Its strange, but I still think there could be a difference between the two.