- Acer capillipes
taxobox
name = "Acer capillipes"
image_caption = Autumn foliage
regnum =Plantae
unranked_divisio =Angiosperms
unranked_classis =Eudicots
unranked_ordo =Rosids
ordo =Sapindales
familia =Sapindaceae
genus = "Acer"
binomial = "Acer capillipes"
binomial_authority = Maxim.|"Acer capillipes" (Kyushu Maple or Red Snakebark Maple; Japanese: ホソエカエデ "hosoekaede"), is a maple in the same
taxon omic section as othersnakebark maple s such as "A. pensylvanicum", "A. davidii" and "A. rufinerve". It is native to mountainous regions inJapan , on central and southernHonshū (Fukushima Prefecture southwards),Kyūshū andShikoku islands, usually growing alongside mountain streams.Kanagawa Prefecture trees and shrubs: [http://www.geocities.jp/greensv88/jumoku-zz-hosoekaede.htm "Acer capillipes"] (in Japanese; [http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.geocities.jp/greensv88/jumoku-zz-hosoekaede.htm&sa=X&oi=translate& google translation] )] Flowers of University of Tsukuba: [http://www.biol.tsukuba.ac.jp/~algae/FUT/hosoekaede/index.html "Acer capillipes"] (in Japanese; [http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.biol.tsukuba.ac.jp/~algae/FUT/hosoekaede/index.html&sa=X&oi=translate& google translation] )] Germplasm Resources Information Network: [http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?1103 "Acer capillipes"] ]Characteristics
It is a small
deciduous tree 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. Thebark is smooth, olive-green with regular narrow vertical white stripes and small horizontal brownishlenticel s; 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. Theflower s are small, greenish-yellow, produced on 8–10 cmraceme s 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 Encyclopedia] Rushforth, K. (1999). "Trees of Britain and Europe". Collins ISBN 0-00-220013-9.]It can be distinguished from the related "
Acer rufinerve " (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.References
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