Stumble upon as in visiting arboreta or while surfing the net? I have to admit I'm not real big on purple foliage, but it's an interesting find. Purple does seem to have a hold on the gardening public, so I don't doubt your prediction for popularity will come true.

No no, I haven't been to eastern Europe this year ;-). Just knew that the international oak society website was very well done and occasionally worth browsing. Even though oaks aren't a genus I'm super passionate about. (in part, paradoxically, because there aren't many interesting cultivars...or ones that are, are impossible to find)

There are all kinds of interesting Q. robur cultivars - some with purple leaves, some with yellow, some variegated. Buchholz sells many of them.

I myself never knew about the purple ones. As for the others: here on the east coast such cultivars are extremely rare. In years of going to places like Rarefind, Susanna Farms, Styers when it was really a nursery, etc. for example, I never saw one for sale. I did once buy, though, the cut leaf English oak whose exotic appearance mimics the effect you'd get from some oddball member of the Proteaceae. (From a nursery owner who had an incredibly abrasive, unpleasant personality: so I must have really wanted it. I've known about the nursery for years but only bought one other thing there.) But it petered out from a combination of a bit of neglect, I must admit, and perhaps, as I alluded to, less than optimal choice of rootstock.

But the fact seeing huge/mature ones in arboreta is _also_ uncommon makes me think these are better adapted to maritime climates. Perhaps more so than the various cultivars of European Beech. But this is a new purple one, so, who knows.

Here's a link to Buchholz's list. I can't say what would grow where you are, but you can read about them or talk to locals. Quercus dentata 'Pinnatafida' is my coolest oak cultivar and it's from Japan so should be good on the East Coast. Most photos don't show the new growth which is pink. Buchholz & Buchholz plant list - Oaks

Thanks for the link.

I couldn't remember the name of that cultivar I was referencing above: https://www.brokenarrownursery.com/quercus-robur-filicifolia-cutleaf-english-oak.html

In any case they are sold out.

Yes the cutleaf Japanese Emperor Oak seems to be the most common "unusual leaf variant" oak that is sold. Have not tried it yet because they are usually expensive. But that form has been around for a while, and, again, I feel like I should have seen a big one in a public garden by now. Take fern leaf beech for example: I know of at least 2 huge ones in public gardens, and one quite nice 25' specimen in a private collection as well. (As in, have seen with my own eyes.)

That cutleaf oak leaf is lovely. Here's the Q. d. 'Pinnatifida' at JC Raulston: JC Raulston Arboretum

Nice, I'll take one! Haha. I actually haven't followed their blog in ages, maybe I need to browse through there again.

According to Owen Johnson (Champion Trees of Britain & Ireland - The Tree Register Handbook, 2011, R.B.G., Kew, Richmond, Surrey) even there 'Atropurpurea' is "Rare and stunted" (one 11 m high in 2000, another 12 m in 2009) and 'Purpurascens' is "Very rare" (17 m, 2004, 23.5 m, 2004).

So perhaps the new purple one is a bit more vigorous? Doesn't look stunted in chilly eastern Europe. In any case, thanks for the citation.

One issue with some colored foliage trees is that the color is most pronounced in the new foliage and fades (or burns) in summer sun with mature leaves. That can make the differentiation more fleeting than supposed. I have Q. r. 'Butterbee' which does hold the yellow color all year but needs afternoon shade. I like some of the fastigate and variegated robur cultivars and the 'Argenteomarginata' is particularly attractive.

I like some purple leaved trees...particularly beech and Japanese maple. This one doesn't quite excite me that much, though. The color seems a bit dull for my taste. Purple leaved trees make good contrasts in a garden, but a full sized purple leaved oak with large leaves could be overwhelming.

You guys remember that fella that posted that Pin oak seedling in his yard a year or more ago? The foliage was purple. I asked for scions but unfortunately he never messaged.

Dax

The leaf shape of that Quercus robur 'Timuki' reminds me so much of our native Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa).

"You guys remember that fella that posted that Pin oak seedling in his
yard a year or more ago? The foliage was purple. I asked for scions
but unfortunately he never messaged."

It's a shame we've had more than a couple "fly by plant teases" haha. Remember the Taxodium that had the bright, flame red fall color? Or the "octopus spruce" as I called it? A picture I suspect had once been posted here long ago.

This pin oak was purple in mid summer or spring?

I actually have saved a random oak seedling that seemed to have incredibly prolonged red fall color. It was similar to the one I asked about in the spring I think, with velvety leaves. Believe me if I think it is noteworthy, still, a couple years down the road, I will let it be propagated. But it could just be some side effect of being small, and having sprouted near the shelter of my house. One of the cool things about the Mexico dogwood (Cornus urbiana) or at least the one I have, is the leaves hang on well past any other fall colored leaves. But this year there was another tree in the garden that still had fall color in early December. So it was in a spot it had to go: I moved it to a better spot. Moving oaks in fall has usually worked for me.

Oh yeah I do remember. It was a Taxodium in TX. Lou and his brother found it. They both grew some beautiful seedlings from it. One a weeper, upright on its' own. The best Taxodium weeper I had ever seen. And I recall that spruce very vividly in my mind. It is a dandy.

That purple pin oak has purple foliage into late/mid-summer or all summer. One of the two. It wasn't a large tree but it was plenty substantial to remove scionwood.

My Quercus ellipsoidallis 'December Red' selection - which I drove past yesterday (wild seedling) is a beautiful red. It's now registered with the Oak Society. The guy in Belgium was given scions a # of years ago. Dirk Benoit I think his name might be. So, my selection is being grafted.

Dax