MAPLE TREE TYPES LEAF IDENTIFICATION PLUS

The plants in this group are defined by their lack of petioles. ‘First Ghost’ has creamy white or pale green leaves with deep green veins.ĭefining characteristic: Leaf veins contrast with the rest of the leaf. ‘Aka-shigitatsu-sawa’ starts out with pale pink leaves with green veins, before transitioning to green and red leaves with green veins. The word “palmatum” is Latin for hand, and that’s what defines this group.įor instance, ‘Nathan’ has orangish-red foliage with green veins. But in this case, this grouping can include other species as well.

This group can be a little confusing, since the most common species of Japanese maples is A. This cultivar grows up to 15 feet tall.ĭefining characteristic: Leaf margin contrasts with center. In the spring, the leaves are dark red with light pink margins, before turning slightly greenish-red in the center with pink margins. While most variegated Japanese maples are green, ‘Shirazz’ is primarily red. Young leaves look slightly mottled before they form a stark contrast. ‘Yama Nishiki,’ known as ‘Snow Peak’ in the West, has a distinct variegation with creamy white on the margins and medium green centers. The leaves have five lobes and the tree grows to be about 12 feet tall when mature.

In the spring, the margins might have some pink hues to them, and in the fall, the margins turn red. The foliage on this tree has creamy white margins and a grayish-green center. To see a good example of this particular group, check out ‘Butterfly.’ This group is a good one to start with, because it includes basically any plant that doesn’t have distinct characteristics that put it in another category. Now, let’s take a look at each of the 17 classifications used to describe Japanese maples today.

The margin is the outside edge of the leaf, and the veins extend from the petiole up through the leaf to transport water.

A petiole is the little stem that attaches the leaf to the branch of the tree.

Lobes on a leaf are projections that extend from a central point, like fingers.

Vertrees also grouped all dwarf plants together, and had a final category called “other” for everything else.īoth classification systems are generally based on the division of the leaf lobes, variegation, and color.īefore we jump in, we need a quick leaf anatomy lesson so we are all on the same page with these terms: The five categories that overlap between Vertrees’ and the Maple Society’s are: amoenum, dissectum, linearilobum, matsumurae, and palmatum.

MAPLE TREE TYPES LEAF IDENTIFICATION PLUS

Vertrees, a highly respected entomologist, grower, and educator based in Oregon who is generally thought of as one of the most knowledgeable Japanese maple experts in the West, grouped the plants into seven categories.įive of his categories are used by the Maple Society today, plus twelve more. capilipes, and more, along with their hybrids. palmatum is the most common, but you’ll also see the species A. This system is particularly helpful because these plants may come from one of numerous Acer species that are indigenous to Japan.Ī. They have officially broken up the broad category of Japanese maples into 17 groups, using the system defined by noted expert Cor van Gelderen, and building on the work of nurseryman Benoit Choeau.

The Maple Society is a United Kingdom-based group that registers new cultivars in the Acer genus, and taps into the expertise of botanists and Japanese maple experts around the world. Using their system, you’d know if you were looking at a correctly labeled atropurpureum that it would stay red all summer long.

Clearly, there was a gap in the Japanese maple world that led to some labeling confusion.

Maple tree types leaf identification