Japanese maple

Japanese maple – Acer palmatum

Description of Plant

Leaf: Made up of 5-7 deep tapered lobes, which are pointed and sharply toothed. They tend to be 10 cm in length and width.

Flower: The flowers appear in early spring after the young leaves have emerged. They may be found upright or drooping in clusters and are small and red-purple in color.

Fruit: The fruit can have green or red wings and be up to 1 cm in length.

Twig: Brownish-red in color.

Bark: The bark is a grayish-brown color and smooth.

Form: This type of tree is broadly spreading with deciduous leaves and may reach a height of 15 meters.

Discussion of the Plant

The Japanese Maples come from China, Japan, and Korea. Their natural habitat is the thickets of these countries. They were imported to this country as ornamental trees. There are numerous Japanese Maples to choose from and include dwarfs, cut leafed, colored or variegated leaves. The one pictured on this site is referred to as a "Atrospurpurem” which has a deep red-purple color to its leaves and usually grows into a smaller variety of the Japanese maple family. It is commonly referred to as a cut-leafed maple.

Copyright

© Sue Grabowski, Gail Slowinski, Carl Schurz High School 2003

References

Coombes, Allen, J, Smithsonian Handbook of Trees, Dorling Kindersley, London, 2002.

Little, Elbert, L., Field Guide to Trees, Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 1980.

Symonds, George, W.D., The Tree Identification Book, Quill Publishing, New York, N.Y. 1958.

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