''Acer shirasawanum'', the Shirasawa maple or fullmoon maple ( ja, オオイタヤメイゲツ, translit=ooitayameigetsu), is a species of
maple
''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...
native to
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, on central and southern
Honshū
, historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...
(
Fukushima Prefecture
Fukushima Prefecture (; ja, 福島県, Fukushima-ken, ) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,810,286 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miya ...
southwards),
Shikoku
is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), '' ...
, and
Kyūshū
is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...
.
[Okayama science university]
''Acer shirasawanum''
(in Japanese
Description
This species grows as a
deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
large
shrub
A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...
or small
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
growing to 8–15 m tall with a
trunk up to 50 cm diameter. The
bark is smooth on both young and old trees. The shoots are slender, and hairless. The
leaves
A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...
are rounded, 4.5–8 cm long and 6–12 cm broad, palmately veined and lobed, with 9–13 (rarely 7) serrate shallowly incised lobes; they are hairless, or thinly hairy at first with white hairs; the petiole is 3–7 cm long and hairless. In autumn, the leaves turn bright gold or orange to dark red. The
flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...
s are 1 cm diameter, with five dark purplish-red sepals, five small whitish petals (soon lost), and red stamens; they are
andromonoecious Andromonoecy is a breeding system of plant species in which male and hermaphrodite flowers are on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system alongside monoecy, gynomonoecy and trimonoecy. Andromonoecy is frequent among genera with zygomorphi ...
, with inflorescences containing flowers with either both sexes, or just male, and are produced 10–20 together in erect terminal
corymb
Corymb is a botanical term for an inflorescence with the flowers growing in such a fashion that the outermost are borne on longer pedicels than the inner, bringing all flowers up to a common level. A corymb has a flattish top with a superficial re ...
s in early spring soon after the leaves appear. The
fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
is a paired
samara
Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with ...
with the nutlets 5–10 mm diameter with a 20–25 mm wing, erect above the leaves, bright red maturing brown.
[Okayama science university]
''Acer shirasawanum'' flowers
(in Japanese
[Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain and Europe''. Collins .]
Taxonomy
''Acer shirasawanum'' is named after Japanese botanist Homi Shirasawa.
It can be distinguished from its close relatives ''Acer japonicum
''Acer japonicum'', Fullmoon Maple, Downy Japanese-Maple ( ja, はうちは楓, translit=hauchiwakaede), is a species of maple native to Japan, on Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū (Nagasaki Prefecture), and also southern Korea.Kanagawa Prefecture tre ...
'' and ''Acer sieboldianum
''Acer sieboldianum'' (Siebold's maple; ja, コハウチワカエデ, translit=kohauchiwakaede) is a species of maple native to Japan and common in the forests of Hokkaidō, Honshū, Shikoku and Kyūshū Islands; in the south of the range it is ...
'' by its hairless shoots; from ''A. sieboldianum'' also by its red, not yellow, flowers.[Kanagawa Prefecture trees and shrubs]
''Acer sieboldianum''
(in Japanese
2009-10-24.
Some authorities, especially in horticulture
Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...
, still use the older classification including the species in ''A. japonicum''; many specimens in cultivation also remain mislabelled as ''A. japonicum''.[''Maples for Gardens: A Color Encyclopedia'' by C.J. van Gelderen & D.M. van Gelderen, 1999]
Two subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
are accepted:
Cultivation and uses
It is grown as an ornamental tree
Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...
in gardens
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...
for its foliage and autumn colour, but is seen far less commonly than ''Acer palmatum
''Acer palmatum'', commonly known as Japanese maple, palmate maple, or smooth Japanese maple (Japanese: ''irohamomiji'', , or ''momiji'', (栴), is a species of woody plant native to Japan, Korea, China, eastern Mongolia, and southeast Russi ...
'' (Japanese maple). A number of cultivar
A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...
s have been selected; the lighter-coloured ''A. shirasawanum'' cultivar 'Aureum' is very widely grown, much more common in cultivation than the main species, and has gained the Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity.
The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...
's Award of Garden Merit
The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions.
History
The Award of Garden Merit ...
.grafting
Grafting or graftage is a horticultural technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion () while the lower part is called the rootstock. The succ ...
onto more hardy and fast-growing ''Acer'' species, in particular ''A. palmatum'' and ''A. japonicum''.Rendeux
Rendeux (; wa, Rindeu) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium.
On 1 January 2007 the municipality, which covers 68.83 km2, had 2,274 inhabitants, giving a population density of 33 inhabitants per km2.
...
(Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
)
Image:Acer_shirasawanum_Autumn_Moon.jpg, Cultivar 'Autumn Moon', in Kingsbrae Garden (St. Andrews, New Brunswick
New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
, Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
)
References
Related links
{{Taxonbar, from=Q481768
shirasawanum
Plants described in 1911
Trees of Japan