Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum) is a species of maple native to Japan, Korea, and northeast China. It is typically a small tree reaching heights of 5-12 m, growing as an understory plant in shady woodlands. The leaves are opposite, 5-12 cm long and wide, palmately lobed with five or seven acutely pointed lobes. The flowers are produced in small cymes; the fruit is a pair of winged samaras, each samara 2-3 cm long with a 6-8 mm seed.

Cultivation and uses

Like most maples, Japanese maple grows best in deep, fertile soils, though it is somewhat adaptable. It grows well as an understory tree, tolerating fairly dense shade, but also casting deep shade, making underplanting difficult. Seedlings can become a nuisance, and the tree can become invasive in woodlands.

It has been cultivated widely both in Japan and elsewhere, with several thousand cultivars selected for differences in size (some are small shrubs less than 0.5 m tall), leaf shape and size (shallowly to deeply lobed, some also palmately compound), leaf colour (ranging from chartreuse through dark green or from red to dark purple), bark texture and color, and growing pattern.

It is frequently used in bonsai.

Misidentification

Japanese Maple is occasionally mistaken for Cannabis, as the leaves of some Japanese Maple cultivars can look superficially similar to Cannabis leaves. Japanese Maple differs in having the leaves arranged in opposite pairs, while Cannabis has spirally arranged leaves. Japanese Maple also has the winged samara fruit characteristic of the genus Acer. The maple also grows with a densely branched shrubby or tree-like form, while Cannabis has an erect, often single-stemmed herbaceous form.

External links

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• Japanese Maple Photo Album

Sapindales

Japansk Løn | Fächer-Ahorn | Érable palmé | 단풍나무 | Japanse esdoorn | Klon palmowy | Japon akçaağacı