365 Urban Species. #315: Japanese Maple

Photo by urbpan. Location: Harvard Street, Brookline.

Urban species #315: Japanese maple Acer palmatum

Japanese maple is an ornamental tree with a long history of cultivation. Hundreds of varieties have been developed, including tiny trees that fit on a desktop, small shrubs with finely dissected leaves that look like fur or feathers, and smallish trees with leaves that can be golden, green, red, or purple. In their native ranges, the tree grows in the shade of taller trees--making it suitable for growth in the shade of buildings or larger trees in urban settings. Their leaves follow the basic pointed lobe pattern of other maples, but are "palmate," or hand-like, and greatly resemble the leaves of the cannabis plant. A person who is more familiar with the leaf of that plant will sometimes find the Japanese maple leaf very amusing. Japanese maple was brought from Asia to Europe and North America in the 1800's. The tree can grow in a broad range across the United States, and are frequently chosen for well-protected urban plantings. In the suburbs they are easy prey for deer, vexing the homeowners who may have doted over their slow-growing and expensive tree. Squirrels eat the fruit--the winged samaras--of the tree, a less destructive predation. Japanese maple only rarely escapes cultivation, and is usually not considered invasive. Only a few states report Japanese maple growing wild, all of those between New York City and Chicago.

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