Acer cappadocicum Gleditsch.

Caucasian Maple

Deciduous tree to about 25 m tall but mostly smaller; young twigs with a waxy bloom, green for 2-3 years. Leaves mostly 10-14 cm wide,with 5-7 round-triangular lobes, margin entire, base generally cordate, hair tufts in vein axils below; golden in autumn. Leaf stalks with milky sap. Fruit with wide-spread wings 3-5 cm long.

A. campbellii Hook. f. &Hiern is superficially similar in outline leaf shape but has small saw-toothed, not entire margins.

Caucasus, Asia Minor to Himalaya.

Leaf lobes mostly 5, entire, broadly based with rounded taper to an attenuated point; leaf stalk with milky sap. Fruits diverging at an angle of less than 90°. Bark of mature trees smooth.

VIC: Mt Macedon ('Alton',15 m tall,15 m wide, rear of residence). NSW: Ournie (Jephcott Arboretum).

Source: Spencer, R. (2002). Aceraceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.

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Distribution map

Acer cappadocicum 'Aureum'

Smaller than the species but young leaves yellow, suffused purple, becoming yellow and eventually pale green; pale brown in autumn. Int. by Hesse Nsy,Weener, Germany.

Acer cappadocicum 'Rubrum'

Young leaves purple on green, becoming green; yellow in autumn. Originated in Germany in 19th century. Specimens vic: Kyneton (Bot. Gds).

kingdom Plantae
phylum   Tracheophyta
class    Magnoliopsida
superorder     Rosanae
order      Sapindales
family       Sapindaceae
genus        Acer L.