A beautiful ornamental maple with unusual trifoliate leaves, bright autumn colours, and distinctive bark. Introduced 1901. Deserves to be more widely planted in public spaces.

Native to central and south-east China. Not common, but once spotted quite unmistakable.

Monoecious, hermaphrodite flowers. Insect-pollinated. Seeds dispersed by gravity.

Small (14m), spreading almost as wide as high. Bark red-brown, dramatically exfoliating in large loose flakes like paper scrolls to reveal smooth new orange-tinted bark. Twigs downy in the first year then glabrous; buds brown, opposite. Foliage flushes very late, bronze then summer-green, turning bright orange-red in autumn. Leaves unusually trifoliate for a maple, with an oval-lanceolate terminal leaflet larger than the stalkless side leaflets, grey-green above, silver-grey and downy below, coarsely toothed. Flowers yellow on pendulous downy stalks (2-3cm). Fruits paired samaras with wings at 60-90 degrees.

A hardy species with attractive specimens found across Britain and Ireland. Thrives in most well-drained soils. Compact size makes it suitable for medium-sized gardens.

No notable associations where introduced.

Generally healthy.

Ornamental.