Japanese Maple                        A-ser pal-MAY-tum

• Deciduous tree, 15-25 ft (4.5-7.6 m), multi-trunked, variable forms.   Leaves simple, opposite, 5-13 cm long, 5-7(9) lobes, lobes are lance-ovate to lance-oblong in shape, doubly serrate, color varies with cultivar.  Fruit (samara) 1.3-2 cm long, much incurved, ripen in early fall.
• Sun to part shade, well-drained soil; protect from winds.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 5      Native to Japan, China, Korea; long cultivated in Japan.  Introduced into England in 1820 and available from a California nursery by 1854.
• Jacobson (1996) states that "no tree species has been more variable in cultivation".  Acer palmatum show diverse form in both leaf (especially color and degree of dissection) and plant habit (from prostrate shrubs to tree form).  Because of the large number of named cultivars within the species, there have been several attempts to categorize them into several groups.  For more details see, Huxley (1992), Vertrees (1978 or 1987), or van Gelderen, de Jong, and Oterdoom (1994).
• Often used in bonsai
• Oregon State Univ. campus: west of arch at Ag. and Life Sciences; the west side of Weniger.