Shirasawa Maple

A deciduous small tree from the mountain forests of Honshu and Shikoku, Japan, growing 10 to 30 feet tall (to 50 feet in native habitat) with a spread roughly equal to height. Leaves are round (suborbicular), about 6 cm across, with 9 to 13 lobes (rarely 7), each with an acuminate tip and doubly serrate margins, on hairless petioles to 7 cm. Flowers are small, in erect clusters, with white to pale yellow petals. Fruit clusters sit erect above the leaves, wings held near horizontal, to 2 cm. Fall color is primarily yellow, with crimson, orange, and red appearing in some cultivars and exposures.

Hardy to Zone 6a. Full sun to full shade, an unusual range for a tree with this level of ornamental refinement. Two cultivars: 'Aureum' (golden fullmoon maple, 16 to 20 feet, shrubby, greenish-yellow leaves turning golden-yellow to orange in fall) and 'Autumn Moon' (pinkish spring foliage that may persist into summer, orange-red fall color in full sun). Nineteen diseases and eleven pests documented; Verticillium wilt is the primary serious risk. Less commonly stocked than Japanese maple in nurseries; may require a specialty source.