Angiosperms (Flowering Plants) • Earth.com

Hawthorn-Leaved Maple

(Acer crataegifolium)

galery
en

Description

Acer crataegifolium (hawthorn-leaf maple or uri maple; urikaede, "melon maple"), is a species of maple in the snakebark maple group, native to mountains forests of central and southern Japan, on Honshū (Fukushima southward), Kyūshū, and Shikoku. It is a deciduous small tree or shrub that grows to a height of 5–10 m, with a trunk up to 30 cm diameter. The bark is green to greenish-brown, with narrow vertical white or pale grey stripes; the young shoots are slender, green to purplish-red and the buds purplish-red. The leaves are 5–8 cm (rarely to 15 cm) long and 4–7 cm broad, dark green to bluish green and often tinged reddish above, paler green below, ovate-triangular, and may be either unlobed or three-lobed; the petiole is red, 2–3 cm long. The flowers are small, pale yellow, produced on arched to drooping racemes 3–5 cm long. The fruit is a paired samara 1–2 cm long, pink or red maturing brown, with nutlets not more than 4 mm wide. Though first introduced to England by Charles Maries of Veitch Nursery in 1879 it is a somewhat difficult maple to propagate, and rarely seen outside of sizable collections. Examples may be seen in Westonbirt Arboretum (Gloucestershire, England) and the Arnold Arboretum (Boston, USA). The rare cultivars 'Me uri no ofu' and 'Veitchii' both have striking white and pink variegation. Acer is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae. There are approximately 132 species, most of which are native to Asia, with a number also appearing in Europe, northern Africa, and North America. Only one species, Acer laurinum, extends to the Southern Hemisphere. The type species of the genus is the sycamore maple, Acer pseudoplatanus, the most common maple species in Europe. The maples usually have easily recognizable palmate leaves (Acer negundo is an exception) and distinctive winged fruits. The closest relatives of the maples are the horse chestnuts. Maple syrup is made from the sap of some maple species. Most maples are trees growing to a height of 10–45 m (33–148 ft). Others are shrubs less than 10 meters tall with a number of small trunks originating at ground level. Most species are deciduous, and many are renowned for their autumn leaf colour, but a few in southern Asia and the Mediterranean region are evergreen. Most are shade-tolerant when young and are often riparian, understory, or pioneer species rather than climax overstory trees.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum:
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order:Sapindales
Family:Sapindaceae
Genus:Acer
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