BlueBell Arboretum & Nursery

Mail order trees, shrubs, conifers and woody climbers

Description

Rare species of maple with exquisite narrow leaves which is native to Japan, where it can be found growing in woodlands and alongside streams in mountainous areas. Acer carpinifolium has leaves which are completely different to the normal lobed structure familiar to most other maples.

Instead, they are long, narrow, serrated and very similar to those of a Carpinus (Hornbeam). The handsome leaves are dark green in spring and summer, turning bright yellow with occasional darker more earthy tones in autumn before falling. Acer carpinifolium is a fascinating and very elegant garden tree.

Supplied Size: 3L containers (40 - 60 cm tall)

Features

• Common name: Hornbeam Maple.
• Position: Full sun or partial shade.
• Soil: Any well drained, fertile soil.
• Hardiness: Fully hardy.
• Rate of Growth: Moderate.
• Habit: Small, elegant spreading tree.
• Height: 8 m (26 ft) / [up to 4 m (13 ft) after 10 years]
• Spread: 6 m (20 ft) / [up to 2.5 m (8 ft) after 10 years]

Further Information

The tree in front of you looks very like a hornbeam, (Carpinus betulus), with beautifully understated, ovate, conspicuously parallel ribbed leaves but examine how the leaves are arranged. If it were a hornbeam the leaves, (or buds in the winter months), would be arranged alternately.

This rare plant is actually a maple, Acer carpinifolium and the buds or leaves, as with all maples are perfectly opposite to each other, each pair of leaves being at 90 degrees to the pairs of leaves above and below them.

Acer carpinifolium is rare in cultivation. It was introduced from Japan by Charles Maries in 1879 who introduced lots of fine plants to the UK, notably the familiar Viburnum plicatum 'Mariesii'.

A small tree in cultivation, the Hornbeam Maple has lovely autumn colours. Acer carpinifolium is dioecious, i.e., the male and female flowers are born on separate plants.