Acer sieboldianum

Siebold’s maple is in the soapberry or Sapindaceae family and is native to mountain forests on the all of the main islands of Japan (southern Hokkaidō, Honshū, Kyūshū and Shikoku). It is a small tree, reaching up to 15 m in height. The name reflects the reddish down on the veins.

• Bark is smooth, grey-brown; young shoots are green to red, thinly covered with white hairs in their first year.
• Leaves are deciduous, simple, opposite, 4–8 cm long and 5–10 cm across, palmate with (7)9–11 lobes, edges double serrated; leaves are mid to dark green on top, lighter green on underside, younger leaves in spring are downy with white hairs, with petiole and veins on the underside remaining hairy all summer (unlikeAcer palmatum); petiole is greenish, 3–7 cm long; autumn colour is bright orange to red.
• Species is andromonoecious (inflorescences contain flowers with either both sexes or male); flowers are produced in corymbs of 10-15 flowers, flowers 5-merous.
• The fruit is a paired samara with each 1.5–2 cm long, the pair spreading angle of 130º–160º.