Green-barked maple

Family: Maples. Occurs in Primorsky Krai, northeastern China and Korea. Found within the territories of many nature reserves.

Grows in mixed forests on fertile, well-moistened soils. Shade-tolerant.

A large shrub or tree up to 15 m tall, with a broad, spherical crown and a very decorative trunk covered with smooth, green bark, with longitudinal white stripes on young plants and gray on older ones. Equally decorative are its dark cherry-colored branches and large pink buds, when opening the strongly hairy, elongated pink covering scales remain for some time at the base of the leaves and young shoots, decorating the plant. Leaves are broad, thin, large, up to 17 cm long, shallowly three-lobed, with an attractive venation pattern, dark green in summer and golden-yellow in autumn, resembling linden in shape. Flowers are large, greenish-yellow, in graceful pendulous, not-dense racemes up to 8 cm long. They bloom after the leaves unfold for 10–13 days. Small pinkish-brown samaras in very showy clusters attract attention, giving the tree a peculiar charm in autumn.

Winter-hardy. Grows relatively fast. Shade-tolerant, but in cultivation prefers well-lit locations. Moisture-loving, demanding regarding soil fertility and moisture, tolerates transplanting well. Propagated by seed. Seed viability 90%. 60% of summer cuttings take root. An excellent nectar source. In cultivation since 1892. Shows well in solitary and group plantings.