Vine maple

Maple family. Native to the northwestern regions of North America.

Deciduous shrub or small tree up to 12 m tall, with a rounded crown; with thin glabrous branches and shiny, purplish one-year shoots.

Leaves 7-9-lobed, rounded in outline, up to 12 cm across, bright green above, pubescent beneath when young, later glabrous, with petioles up to 3.5 cm long. Lobes pointed, irregularly doubly serrate. In autumn the leaves are very showy in color, ranging from dark red to orange tones. Flowers large, up to 1.2 cm in diameter, with purplish sepals and whitish petals, 6–20 in naked, drooping inflorescences. Flowering lasts 15–20 days. Samaras almost horizontal, up to 5 cm.

The growing season is from late April to mid-October. Growth rate is medium. Begins flowering at 12 years, in mid-May. Bears fruit from 16 years, annually, sparsely; fruits ripen in late September. Seed viability 65–70%, germination 10%. About 12% of summer cuttings take root.

Very ornamental throughout the growing season. Vine maple looks good as a solitary specimen and in small group plantings in the foreground. In cultivation since 1826.