''Acer ginnala'', the Amur maple, is a plant species with woody stems native to northeastern Asia from easternmost Mongolia east to Korea and

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 ...

, and north to the Russian Far East in the

Amur River The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...

valley. It is a small maple with deciduous leaves that is sometimes grown as a garden subject or boulevard tree.

Description

''Acer ginnala'' is a deciduous spreading

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 growing to tall, with a short trunk up to diameter and slender branches. The

bark Bark may refer to: * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Places * Bark, Germany * Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland Arts, ...

is thin, dull gray-brown, and smooth at first but becoming shallowly fissured on old plants. 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 opposite and simple, long and wide, deeply palmately lobed with three or five lobes, of which two small basal lobes (sometimes absent) and three larger apical lobes; the lobes are coarsely and irregularly toothed, and the upper leaf surface glossy. The leaves turn brilliant orange to red in autumn, and are on slender, often pink-tinged, petioles long. The flowers are yellow-green, diameter, produced in spreading panicles in spring as the leaves open. The fruit is a paired reddish

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 ...

, long with a wing, maturing in late summer to early autumn..

Taxonomy

Amur maple is closely related to ''

Acer tataricum ''Acer tataricum'', the Tatar maple or Tatarian maple, is a species of maple widespread across central and southeastern Europe and temperate Asia, from Austria and Turkey east as far as Japan and the Russian Far East. The species is named after th ...

'' (Tatar maple), and some botanists treat it as a

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 ...

''A. tataricum'' subsp. ''ginnala'' (Maxim.) Wesm. The glossy, deeply lobed leaves of ''A. ginnala'' distinguish it from ''A. tataricum'', which has matte, unlobed or only shallowly lobed leaves.

Cultivation and uses

''Acer ginnala'' is grown as an ornamental plant in northern regions of Europe and North America. It is the most cold-tolerant maple, hardy to zone 2. It is

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

in parts of North America. Planted on exceptional sites facing south west with consistent moisture and light loamy soils, this tree can grow 3 to 4 feet per year making it a fast grower. It is often planted as a shrub along borders. In the UK it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society'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 ...

. It is also valued in Japan and elsewhere as a species suitable for

bonsai Bonsai ( ja, 盆栽, , tray planting, ) is the Japanese art of growing and training miniature trees in pots, developed from the traditional Chinese art form of ''penjing''. Unlike ''penjing'', which utilizes traditional techniques to produce ...

. It is a nonnative

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

in parts of northern America.

Cultivars

Due to its vigor and fall colors of yellows and bright reds, the size being a small tree of 6 metres (20 feet) wide by 6 m tall on average, it suits many for smaller landscapes and for planting under power lines. Cultivars have emerged for those wanting these attributes. * Flame (Fiery red autumn foliage, very strong vigor)

References

External links

* *
Winter ID pictures
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15634290 ginnala Flora of Mongolia Flora of China Flora of the Russian Far East Flora of Eastern Asia Plants used in bonsai Garden plants of Asia Trees of Korea