Acer pictum

Yellow-paint maple is in the soapberry or Sapindaceae family and is native to much of China as well as Korea, Japan, Mongolia, and eastern Russia. It is a medium-sized tree, reaching up to 20 m tall with a round, spreading crown.

• Leaves are deciduous, simple, opposite, palmate, up to 12 cm long and wide, with 5 or 7 triangular lobes, depth of sinuses quite variable, margins occasionally with a few large teeth; upper surface is mid-green and glabrous, the lower surface lighter green with prominent veins, brownish hairs on the main veins; fall color is from yellow to gold with reddish to purplish bronzing; the petiole is slender and as long as the blade and contains a milky sap.
• Greenish-yellow flowers appear in April-May in upright clusters (umbels).
• Fruit is a winged samara up to 4 cm long, in horizontal to upright clusters, each pair usually spreading wide, but angle can vary from horizontal to parallel or even overlapping.