My World Tuesday

This is my poorly trimmed Japanese Maple in Spring.

I posted a photo of it back when it was covered with snow. Here it is below:

I prefer the first photo...

Acer palmatum, called Japanese Maple or Smooth Japanese Maple (Japanese: irohamomiji; 紅葉 or いろはもみじ ) is a species of woody plant native to Japan, Korea and China. Many different cultivars of this maple have been selected and they are commonly grown in other parts of the world too, for their attractive leaf shapes and colors.

Acer palmatum is a deciduous shrub or small tree reaching heights of 6–10 m, rarely 16 m, often growing as an understory plant in shady woodlands. It may have multiple trunks joining close to the ground. In habit, it is often shaped like an upside-down pyramid (especially when younger) or takes on a dome-like form, especially when mature. The leaves are 4–12 cm long and wide, palmately lobed with five, seven, or nine acutely pointed lobes. The flowers are produced in small cymes, the individual flowers with five red or purple sepals and five whitish petals. The fruit is a pair of winged samaras, each samara 2–3 cm long with a 6–8 mm seed. The seeds of Japanese maple and similar species require stratification in order to germinate.

Even in nature, Acer palmatum displays considerable genetic variation. As such, even seedlings with the same parent tree can show difference in such aspects as leaf size and shape, and colour.

Here's a close-up of the leaves:



Palmatum Matsumurae


Thanks to the My World Team:

Klaus | Sandy | Ivar | Wren | Fishing Guy | Louise