Maples of the World

Extrait :

Section Macrantha

ACER CRATAEGIFOLIUM Siebold & Zuccarini (1845)
SYNONYM : A. crataegifolium f. typicum Schwerin (1893).
TYPES : Syntypes von Siebold, Maximowicz, Tschonoski; Nagasaki, Senano, Japan; L. COMMON NAMES : Hawthorn maple, Ao uri, Hana kaede, Hon uri, Shira hashi noki, Shira kaede, Me urinoke, Yama kaede.
EPITHET : Crataegifolius, with leaves like those of the genus Crataegus.
ILLUSTRATIONS : Plate 29; Koidzumi (1911), Krüssmann (1976a), Kurata (1964-1987), Satake et al. (1989), Vertrees (1987).
HABIT : A small tree or many-branched shrub, erect-growing, sometimes to 8 m tall; branchlets purplish green with inconspicuous white stripes, glabrous.
LEAVES : Ovate, bases truncate or cordate bases, 5-7 cm long, dark bluish green, irregularly serrate, often 3-lobed, sornetimes 5-lobed, glabrous except when quite young, markedly larger on vegetative shoots than on fertile branches; margins quite notched when young.
FLOWERS : Almost white, in srnall, somewhat erect racemes, 3-4 cm long, produced with the first spring leaves.
FRUITS : Srnall and glabrous, 1.5-2 mm long, often sterile due to poor pollination; samaras purplish red, wings only 1 cm long or less, spreading almost horizontally.
BARK AND BUDS : Striped with green or whitish green on a purple bark; buds valvate.

HARDINESS : Zone VI.

AUTUMN COLOR : Dark red, not very attractive.
DISTRIBUTION : Central and southern Japan, in moist mountainous regions.
CHROMOSOME NUMBER: 2n = 26 (Darlington & Wylie 1955).

VARIETIES
var. crataegifolium, the typical variety.
var. macrophyllum Hara (1934), with larger leaves to 15 cm long.
cultivars : A few (see Chapter 9).
REFERENCES : Bean (1970), Dippel (1892), de jong (1977), Koidzumi (1911), Krüssmann (1976a), Kurata (1 964-1976), Murray (1 9 70c), Pax (1 902), Rehder (1986 facs.), Veitch (1904), Vertrees (1978, 1987).
The name of this species suggests affinity with the leaves of the hawthorn, although in reality this is only remotely the case. The species was described by Siebold and Zuccarini in 1845. Maries introduced it in 1879, together with other Japanese species, for Veitch Nursery, Exeter, Great Britain. It has no synonyms; nevertheless, it is occasionally misnamed with other "valid" epithets.

Acer crataegifolium occasionally grows into a small tree, but usually is a rather dense shrub with dark purplish red branches that have the stripes typical of species in section Macraiitlia. The rather small, dark bluish green leaves have irregular lobes; mature leaves are often unlobed. The margins are purplish. The autumn color is usually an unattractive blackish red, sometimes a good orange.
Because of poor seed germination, this species is available only occasionally in the trade. Propagation by cuttings is possible ; grafting on understock of any species in the section is, of course, no problem.
A very charming, variegated cultivar,'Veitchii', can be successfully grafted on understock of any species in the section. Acer crataegift?liutti var. tnacrophyllutti grows faster than the species, becoming a large bushy shrub up to 5-6 m tall. The leaves are at least twice as large as the typical variety, but have the same bluish green color.

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