“Blue maple tree” can be a familiar word to you if you are into gardening. But “Are blue maple trees real?” is a question of debate. The answer to this question is simply no, they don’t exist. To know why they do not exist you have to scroll through the whole article.
What Are Blue Maple Trees Real?
You can find other names such as purple ghost tree, purple maple tree, or Acer Palmatum for a blue maple tree. The blue maple tree is a kind of bonsai tree which has been originated in Japan initially. They are a species of woody small tree. Japanese maples range from 2 to 30 feet tall with a form that can be weeping, rounded, dwarf, mounding, upright, or cascading. The leaves are long and wide and generally have pointed lobes.
Variations of Maple Trees
There are other variations to the types of maple trees. Green is the most common color of maple trees, there are also variations of red, orange, or yellow. Some maple trees even change color according to the seasons. No matter how many options are there, blue is definitely not an option for maple trees.
Do Blue Maple Trees Exist?
The blue maple trees are extremely captivating and soothing to the eyes. But the real question is do they really exist or can they exist? How we all wish that a blue maple tree existed! But it is a matter of great sorrow that they don’t exist and the idea of a blue Japanese is just fiction. Any claim related to the existence of the blue maple tree is absolutely fake.
Are There Any Trees with Blue Leaves?
No, there are no trees with blue leaves.
Some trees show delayed greening which may look blue. These trees do this to protect the new and young leaves from predators and harmful Ultraviolet rays.
Read: How to Make Roses Bonsai
Scientific Reasons Why Blue Maple Does Not Exist
We see green, yellow, red sometimes even purple-like colors for leaves but not any blue leaves. Science has the answer to this and it can help us to understand why the blue maple tree is not a thing.
Photosynthesis
First of all the answer is related to a process called photosynthesis. For this process, plants use their chlorophyll molecules and convert light energy to produce water carbon dioxide, and glucose. Chlorophyll is capable to absorb the violet-blue or red-orange color of any light spectrum. But it cannot absorb the green color because of its wavelength. As a result, the blue color is reflected and we can see the green-colored leaves.
Absence of Blue Pigments
We also have another explanation for this. There are some pigments in trees that are responsible for the color of leaves. For Example, Carotenoids or Xanthophylls are responsible for orange or yellow colors.
Anthocyanin also helps to create a pink, purple, or red color.
Because of these, we see green leaves most of the time but we also see other colors such as red, orange, and purple in the fall season. But there are no pigments that can create blue color. Consequently, the blue color is a rare scenario in Nature.
With these explanations, we can understand why Japanese blue trees cannot be a real thing and why it is not possible for the leaves to be blue.
People’s Views on Blue Maple Tree
Though a lot of sources prove that blue maple trees are not real and online sellers are scamming people with fake seeds or in other ways, a lot of people are still obsessed with blue maple trees. In any question-answering forum related to gardening, this is a common topic people like to talk about. Some people keep suggesting different places to buy them and buyers just waste a bunch of their money because of these suggestions. A lot of people even claim that they have seen blue maple trees.
Scams Related to Japanese Blue Maple Tree
The most common way of scamming people with a blue maple tree is to use a fake or photoshopped picture to sell them online. A camera angle or a filter or some lighting can easily create these types of pictures. Especially gardeners who like to collect many trees are the main targets of scammers.
You may find a rumor online that people are using food colors like purple or blue to make the white orchid look like a blue maple and trying to sell them online.
Can You Buy Blue Maple Trees Online?
While browsing for online tree shopping, you will see a lot of websites that will say they sell seeds of blue maple trees and suggest you a lot of resources to buy them. If you are tempted to buy them, you will just be completely disappointed. First of all, blue maple trees are bonsai trees and bonsai does not grow from seeds. Rather bonsai is a form of art.
Sellers who are trying to sell you blue maple trees or Japanese blue bonsai or blue bonsai seeds are actually scammers. So it’s better to avoid them even if they are renowned online sellers. In famous websites like Amazon, and eBay we may find some people who are selling blue bonsai seeds. Most of these sellers are Chinese people. They are either using some photoshopped images or they might have dyed the seeds to the color blue. If you buy them and plant them, they will just disappoint you by growing some normal green leaves only.
Finally
We have to admit that a blue maple tree is visually extremely beautiful but it is a matter of fact that they don’t exist in the real world.