''Acer sterculiaceum'', commonly known as Franchet’s maple or Himalayan maple, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 ...

tree in the soapberry family. It is indigenous to

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...

, northern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and southwestern and central

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

(

Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

).Flora of China, ''Acer sterculiaceum'' Wallich, 1830. 苹婆枫 ping po feng
/ref> ''Acer sterculiaceum'' grows at altitudes of . It is a tree up to 20 meters tall with dark gray or grayish-brown bark. Leaves are palmately lobed, usually with 3 or 5 lobes but occasionally 7. Leaves are up to 20 cm long, thick and a bit leathery, dark green and hairless on the top, lighter green and woolly on the underside.Douglas Justice, 2010. Qingling maple, ''Acer tsinglingense,'' or Franchet's maple, ''Acer sterculiaceum'' subsp. ''franchetii.'' Arnoldia 68(2):57-58
/ref> ; SubspeciesThe Plant List, ''Acer sterculiaceum'' Wall.
/ref> * ''Acer sterculiaceum'' subsp. ''franchetii'' (Pax) A.E.Murray - central and southwestern China * ''Acer sterculiaceum'' subsp. ''sterculiaceum'' - Yunnan, Tibet, Bhutan, India * ''Acer sterculiaceum'' subsp. ''thomsonii'' (Miq.) A.E.Murray - northern India

References

External links

*
Encyclopedia of Life
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7212543 sterculiaceum Plants described in 1830 Trees of Bhutan Trees of China Flora of Assam (region) Flora of Tibet