isospin

Hello All,

I been browsing Vertree's excellent guide to Japanese Maples and have found several cultivars that I think would make interesting bonsai. The palmatums I'm considering all have widely different adult leaf sizes. This got me thinking; does anyone know of a rule of thumb to correlate (maximally reduced) leaf size with tree height(or branch thickness) such that the two are in proportion and suggest a mature specimen? I've seen other developmental guidelines, such as the "1/6 rule" for trunk caliper vs. tree height and the application of the Golden Ratio to determine branch placement, but haven't found any suggestions regarding leaf size aside from "they shouldn't be too big". I understand that a leaf size-tree height rule is probably most useful for deciduous species and would likely vary amongst species, given their different leaf shapes, but maybe someone knows of an effective ratio I could use to help ensure a large enough tree for my palmate leaves?

Thanks,
Isospin

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