Evergreen because of its beauty, find out what makes the green Japanese maple tree the all time favorite garden plant.
When it comes to the plant kingdom there is a certain family of trees classified in the study of botany as Acer palmatum. To the common man this family is popularly known as the Japanese maple. Having been a prominent feature in the history of Japanese gardening this group of trees has today found world wide fame.
The green Japanese maple tree is also referred to as the smooth Japanese maple. This particular species is a native of Japan, China and Korea. The tree is adored by garden enthusiasts from all over the world and for good reasons.
Classified as a deciduous shrub this small tree has a height range between 6-10 meters. In some cases the tree can even extend up to 16 meters. By nature the green Japanese maple tree thrives in a shady woodland environment.
The structure of the tree is such that it is joined close to the ground with multiple trunks. During its younger years the shape of the tree resembles that of an inverted pyramid. As the tree matures it forms the shape of a dome.
The green maple tree has very distinctive leaves that can range from four to twelve centimeters in length. The leaves on the tree are long and wide. The leaves carry palatable lobes of five or seven and even nine small pointed lobes.
The flowers produced by the green Japanese maple are in small cymes. Each individual flower has five purple or red sepals along with five other white petals. Winged samaras in pairs are the fruit that this tree bears with each samara measuring up to3 inches long along with a 6-8 mm seed. When it comes to the germinating process of the seeds for the green Japanese maple one is required to stratify them prior to making use of them.
Maple Variants
A unique characteristic of the Japanese maple tree family is that it has a diverse generic variation by nature. The strangest of things is that a parent may produce seedlings of a totally different variation of the tree which bears no similitude with the parent tree except that it is from the same family. Hence the tree produced from the seedlings of the green Japanese maple may turn out to have a completely different structure, size, leaves, shape and colours.
The green Japanese maple tree has been thriving in temperate areas around the globe since the 1800s. In Japan however the tree has been in use for centuries. Today you will be able to find hoards of readily available cultivars for commercial sale. The cultivars are available in many places all around the world and with considerable variety.
Known to be a socially friendly tree the green Japanese maple can grow alongside any other tree. Due to their physical structure and aesthetic value the tree has been used to create ornamental paths and borders within gardens throughout history. The green Japanese maple can be grown out in the open as well as in a container.
