Acer buergerianum

Species of plant

Acer buergerianum (trident maple; ) is a species of maple native to eastern China (from Shandong west to southeastern Gansu, south to Guangdong, and southwest to Sichuan), Taiwan and Japan. The specific epithet is a patronym honoring Dutch plant hunter J. Buerger (1804 1858).

It is a small to medium sized deciduous tree reaching a height of 5–20 m with a trunk up to 50 cm diameter. The leaves are in opposite pairs, 2.5–8 cm long (excluding the 2–5 cm petiole) and 3.5–6.5 cm broad, hard, glossy dark green above, paler below, usually with three lobes; on mature trees the lobes forward pointing and with smooth margins, on young trees with more spreading lobes and serrated margins. The flowers are produced in spring, yellow green, in pendulous corymbs; they are small, with five greenish sepals and five yellow white petals about 2 mm long, and eight stamens. The fruit is a samara with two winged seeds, each seed 4–7 mm diameter, with a 15 mm wing; the wings are forward pointing and often overlapping each other. The species is variable, and a number of varieties have been described: Occasional unlobed leaves also occur on most trees with otherwise normal three lobed leaves.

It is widely grown in temperate regions as an ornamental tree. It was introduced very early to Japan, where its name translates as "China maple". More recently, it was introduced to Europe and North America in 1896, and is now occasionally grown in parks and large gardens there.

Several interesting cultivars have been developed, many of these bear Japanese names. Notable cultivars include 'Goshiki Kaede' (striking pink and green variegation), 'Kifu Nishiki' (roundish, almost un lobed leaves), 'Mino Yatsubusa' (dwarf with long, narrow leaves) 'Mitsubato Kaede' (distinctive cork like trunk) and 'Naruto' (strongly incurved leaf surface).