Acer maximowiczianum

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iAcer maximowiczianum

Foliage in autumn

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Sapindales
Family:	Aceraceae
Genus:	Acer
Species:	A. maximowiczianum

Binomial name

Acer maximowiczianum
Miq.

Synonyms

Acer nikoense

Acer maximowiczianum (Nikko maple; syn. A. nikoense Maxim.), is a species of maple widely distributed in China (Anhui, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang) and Japan (Honshū, Kyūshū, Shikoku)<ref name="xu">Xu, T.-z., Chen, Y., de Jong, P. C., & Oterdoom, H. J. Flora of China: Aceraceae (draft)</ref><ref>(Japanese)Shu Suehiro: Acer maximowiczianum</ref>.

It is a slender deciduous tree that reaches a height of 15-20 m but is usually smaller<ref name="gelderen">van Gelderen, C.J. & van Gelderen, D.M. (1999). Maples for Gardens: A Color Encyclopedia.</ref>. It is a trifoliate maple, related to such other species as Threeflower Maple (Acer triflorum) and Paperbark Maple (Acer griseum) but has dark gray to blackish bark dissimilar to the exfoliating bark of either.<ref name="gelderen"/>.

The leaves have a 3-5 cm petiole and three leaflets; the leaflets are oblong, 5-15 cm (2-6 inches) long and 3-6 cm broad, with dense, soft pubescence and smooth margins. The hard, horizontally-spreading samaras are 3.5-6 cm long and 1.2 cm broad, and have the same parthenocaptic tendencies as those of A. griseum.<ref name="xu"/><ref name="gelderen"/>

The Chinese populations are sometimes treated as a separate subspecies A. maximowiczianum subsp. megalocarpum (Rehder) A.E.Murray, but this is not recognised as distinct by the Flora of China<ref name="xu"/>.

Many older texts refer to the species under its synonym A. nikoense Maxim., but as Maximowicz had also cited the name Negundo nikoense Miq. in synonymy, his new name had to be regarded as the same as that under the ICBN. Miquel pointed out that his Negundo nikoense was actually a different plant to the maple Maximowicz had intended to describe, and therefore gave the Nikko Maple a new name, honouring Maximowicz in the process<ref>Clarke, D. L. (1988), in Bean, W. J. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles, 8th ed., Supplement.</ref>.

[edit] Cultivation

Nikko Maple was first introduced to cultivation in 1881, when seeds were imported by the Veitch Nurseries in England<ref>Bean, W. J. (1970). Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles, 8th ed.</ref>. It is rarely seen in cultivation outside of arboreta. The largest specimens in England are up to 17 m tall and 70 cm trunk diameter (Tree Register of the British Isles). In the United States, a mature specimen may be seen at Arnold Arboretum in Boston, Massachusetts.