Raft style bonsai are bonsai which mimic a natural phenomenon where a tree which has been toppled (typically due to erosion or another natural force) begins to grow a new root system out of the part of the trunk that is in contact with the ground.
Raft Style (Korabuki Style)
Raft Style imitates trees in nature that have fallen down and the branches on one side have continued to grow as individual trees.
A raft style tree planted on a slab
You should not be in to much of a hurry to get your tree into a proper pot, remember that doing so will restrict the roots and slow down the development of a tree that is still in training.
The raft style of old bonsai tree art is meant to imitate the growth of a tree that has fallen and the side of the tree has taken root and continued to grow. In this style the original root system is left intact.
For the raft style of bonsai, you would have something very unique in that a new root system actually grows out of the existing trunk. In most cases, this particular style of bonsai is planted along with the original root system still in place.
Raft Style copies that tree we've all seen that has fallen over and the branches on one side have all grown as individual trees. In this first style the trunk rest partially below the soil level.
The natural inspiration for the sinuous raft style is a fallen tree that has sprouted vertical branches and then taken root in places where it has come into contact with the earth.
raft style - a bonsai style in which multiple trunks grow in a line from a connected base.
ramification - the development of a twigging structure by a series of divisions of branches into twigs and twiglets ...
Q. Are some shapes rarer than others?
A. Styles such as cascade, root over rock and raft styles are much harder to create. Nurseries that sell these types of Bonsai charge high prices and they can be very hard to maintain.
MISTLETOE. I think it would be interesting to have a mistletoe as a bonsai. You could airlayer the branch it is on and either plant it as a raft style or have both the parent plant and the mistletoe growing together as in nature.
 See also: Style, Bonsai, Trunk, Raft, Root
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