Lord Selkirk Maple

City of Winnipeg Forester Martha Barwinsky was on hand for the planting of the Lord Selkirk sugar maple tree at City Hall today. She also offered some extra information that adds to the story.

Here are some tidbits Ms Barwinsky shared with us on the Lord Selkirk sugar maple, from the cultivar developer Wilbert Ronald of Jeffries Nurseries Ltd:

• Scientific name is Acer saccharum ‘Jefselk’
• Developed from a collection of seed from a sugar maple tree growing in the most northern limits of the natural distribution of sugar maple in northern Minnesota; sugar maple is not native to Manitoba
• This cultivar was named Lord Selkirk in 2012 in honour of the contribution Lord Selkirk made in bringing settlers to Red River – interestingly, the cultivar’s origin is the area in Minnesota that was granted to Lord Selkirk
• The cultivar is a seed strain, meaning that it is growing on its own rootstock (i.e. it is not bud grafted which is a common method of propagating tree cultivars)
• A Lord Selkirk maple was also planted in 2012 at Government House when Lord Selkirk was in Winnipeg to commemorate the Red River Selkirk Settlement bicentenary
• This shade tree is a relatively new introduction in the industry and has been selected to be adapted to our clay soils and for cold hardiness
• The leaves turn orange in autumn

Jeffries Nurseries Ltd is in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. Wilbert recalls meeting the current Lord Selkirk when they planted the tree at Government House in 2012.

Best regards,

Martha Barwinsky