Deciduous, sometimes multi-stemmed tree, 5-15 m tall with a broad crown. Leaves pinnate with mostly 3-5 (rarely 7-9) oval, saw-toothed leaflets, each 5-10 cm long; terminal leaflet sometimes further divided into 3. Male and female plants separate. Flowers without petals, in pendulous clusters, appearing before or with the leaves, 4-parted; early Oct. Fruits with wings curved inwards at an acute angle.
Grows naturally by permanent water. Seedlings grow readily in suitable ground.
There are several species with leaves of 3 leaflets that are occasionally cultivated:
A. cissifolium (Siebold &Zucc.) Koch with reddish grey branches, pale orange new growth and mostly 5 distinctly toothed leaflets;
A. negundo with green branches and 3-9 ovate leaflets;
A. henryi Pax Syn. A. cissifolium subsp. henryi (Pax) Murray from China, usually with 3 faintly toothed to entire obovate leaflets on mature trees and no pale orange new growth;
A. triflorum Komarov from China and Korea, with bark peeling laterally to form vertical lines and samaras with narrow-angled wings.
E and C USA.
Easily recognised by the compound leaves.
ACT: Griffith (Bannister Gds).VIC: Fitzroy (Gds, avenue).
Source: (2002). Aceraceae. In: . 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.
Acer negundo 'Aureomarginatum'
Shrub or small tree to 10 m tall. Leaf margins creamy yellow, or leaf occasionally all yellow. A female clone. Origin unknown.
Shrub or small tree to about 5 m tall. New growth with bluish downy hair. Branches ascending. Young leaves pink. Mature leaves small with 5-7 pinkish- to white-margined leaflets.
S Gold' Small tree with golden yellow leaves turning paler in autumn.a New Zealand cultivar listed by Duncan &Davies Nsy in 1989.
, Ghost Maple. Young leaves with pink edges. Leaflets green in the centre with an irregular white border; occasional leaves all white. A cultivar long established in Australia, showing the tendency to revert to green foliage. Needs pruning to maintain variegation. The prolific seed is sterile. Originated as a sport in a nsy at Toulouse, France. Specimens vic: Canterbury (Gds); Springvale (Crematorium).
Large tree with branches and branchlets waxy-blue to violet. Leaflets softly hairy below. Sometimes treated as a botanical variety, as similar specimens occur in the wild in WNorth America.