Acer maximowiczianum

Nikko maple is in the soapberry or Sapindaceae family and is native to Japan (Honshū, Kyūshū, Shikoku)and China (Anhui, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang). It is a slender deciduous tree growing up to 20 m tall. It is related to three-flower maple (A. triflorum) and paperbark maple (A. griseum) but has smooth, gray bark, less commonly exfoliating like the other two.

• Leaves are opposite, compound (trifoliate), leaflets are oblong, 5–15 cm long and 3–6 cm across, with dense, soft pubescence and smooth margins; the center leaf is the largest of the 3 leaflets; petiole is 3–5 cm long. Leaves turn orange or red in the fall.
• Species is dioecious. Flowers are small, yellowish green in groups of 3–5 flowers.
• Fruit is a double samara 3.5–6 cm long, with wings that range from almost parallel to widely divergent.
• Bark is smooth, gray to blackish, sometimes exfoliating.