A small, refined deciduous maple of East Asia, prized worldwide as an ornamental for its delicate leaves and brilliant autumn colour.
Where it grows
Japanese maple grows naturally in the wooded hills of Japan, Korea, and parts of eastern China, often as an understory tree beneath a canopy of taller oaks and beeches. Centuries of selection in Japanese gardens has produced more than a thousand named cultivars now planted around the world.
How to recognise it
The hand-shaped leaves have five, seven, or nine sharply pointed lobes — palmatum literally means “palm-like.” Wild trees have green summer leaves and red autumn colour; cultivars range from deep burgundy through gold to lace-leafed dissected forms with finely cut foliage that resembles a fern.
Uses
Japanese maple is one of the most popular small ornamental trees in temperate gardens. Its compact size, slow growth, and resilience to root pruning also make it the classic bonsai species, often trained to evoke an entire windswept mountain in miniature.
In culture
The autumn colour change, koyo, draws crowds to Japanese maple groves in shrines and temple gardens — the autumn counterpart to springtime cherry-blossom viewing.
Find more trees by letter
Japanese Maple starts with J and ends with E. Browse other trees along the same letter.
Trees that contain a letter from "Japanese Maple":