''Acer capillipes'' (Kyushu maple or red snakebark maple; ja, ホソエカエデ, translit=hosoekaede), is a maple in the same

taxon In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...

omic section as other

snakebark maple Snakebark maples are maples belonging to the taxonomic section ''Acer'' sect. ''Macrantha''. The section includes 18–21 species, and is restricted to eastern Asia (the eastern Himalaya east to Japan) with the exception of one species in easte ...

s such as '' A. pensylvanicum'', '' A. davidii'' and '' A. rufinerve''. It is native to mountainous regions in Japan, on central and southern Honshū ( Fukushima Prefecture southwards), Kyūshū and

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'' (), '' ...

islands, usually growing alongside mountain streams.Kanagawa Prefecture trees and shrubs
''Acer capillipes''
(in Japanese

2009-10-24.Flowers of University of Tsukuba

(in Japanese

Characteristics

It is a small

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, ...

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 10–15 m (rarely to 20 m) tall with a trunk up to 70 cm diameter, though usually smaller and often with multiple trunks, and a spreading crown of long, slender branches. The bark is smooth, olive-green with regular narrow vertical white stripes and small horizontal brownish lenticels; it retains its pattern to the base even on old trees. The leaves are 10–15 cm long and 6–12 cm broad, with three or five lobes, the basal lobes of five-lobed leaves being small; they have a serrated margin, conspicuous veining, and a reddish 4–8 cm petiole. They are matt to sub-shiny green in summer, turning to bright yellow, orange or red in the autumn. 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 small, greenish-yellow, produced on 8–10 cm racemes in late spring, erect at first but becoming pendulous, with male and female flowers on different racemes. The samara nutlets are 5 mm long, with a 2 cm long wing.van Gelderen, C. J. & van Gelderen, D. M. (1999). Maples for Gardens: A Color EncyclopediaRushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain and Europe''. Collins . It can be distinguished from the related ''

Acer rufinerve ''Acer rufinerve'', the grey-budded snake-bark-maple, redvein maple or Honshū maple ( Japanese: ウリハダカエデ ''urihadakaede'', "melon-skin maple"), is a species of tree in the snakebark maple group, related to '' Acer capillipes'' (Kyus ...

'' (Japanese, ウリハダカエデ ''urihadakaede''), with which it sometimes grows, by the reddish petioles, the hairless or only thinly hairy leaves (contrasting with the rufous hairs on the underside of ''A. rufinerve'' leaves), and in flowering later in spring well after the leaves appear.

Cultivation and uses

It is grown as an ornamental tree for its striped bark and good autumn foliage. When grown together with its close relatives, it may be distinguished from them by the additional presence of small, rust-orange spots on the bark. Hybrids with ''A. davidii'' are frequent in cultivation. This plant 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 (Nor ...

's Award of Garden Merit.RHS Plant Selector Acer capillipes AGM / RHS Gardening
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References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1089472 capillipes Endemic flora of Japan Trees of Japan