Acer palmatum
Thunb.Wide-crowned, shrub or deciduous tree to c. 7 m high; andromonoecious. Leaves palmately 5(7–11)-lobed, 5–10 cm long and wide, nearly truncate at base, virtually glabrous, usually with a tuft of short hairs near the attachment of the petiole; lobes typically divided to within c. 1 cm of petiole, occasionally completely divided; margins irregulary serrate; petioles 15–35 mm long. Flowers in short, semi-pendent, terminal racemes to c. 4 cm long, appearing with or before leaves; pedicels slender, 3–6 mm long; sepals narrowly obovate, c. 3 mm long, purplish-red; petals broadly obovate, shorter than sepals, pale yellowish or tinged pink; nectary disc annular; stamens 8, c. 4 mm long in male flowers, shorter in female flowers, inserted within disc; ovary glabrous. Samaras c. 1.5 cm long, the seed compartment broadly ellipsoid, c. 4 mm long, wings spreading at an obtuse angle. Flowers Sep.–Oct.
GipP, Gold, HSF, HNF, VAlp. Weakly naturalized in cooler areas near cultivated plants (e.g. Dandeong Ranges, Rawson).
Native to north-eastern Asia. Widely grown for ornament with great variation in stature, degree of division of leaf-lobes, serration of leaf margins, and autumn foliage colour. More than 1000 named cultivars are known.
