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Trident maple

Acer buergerianum

Also called Three-toothed maple, Taiwan Trident Maple, Chinese Maple

Trident maple
Photo: Hurricanefan24, CC BY-SA 3.0

A small to medium deciduous maple, usually grown as a tree of 5 to 15 m in parks and large gardens, valued for its three-lobed glossy leaves and good autumn colour. It is hardy and tolerant of a range of soils, with most trouble coming from poor drainage.

Family
Sapindaceae (Soapberry & maple family)
Grows as
Tree
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Water deeply during dry spells in the first few years, then let the top of the soil dry between waterings.
Soil
Well-drained, fertile loam; tolerates a range of pH and clay if not waterlogged.
Temperature
Hardy to about -20 °C; best in temperate climates with a cool winter.
How easy
Easy
Native range
S. & E. China, Taiwan
Climate
temperate

About

Acer buergerianum (trident maple; simplified Chinese: 三角枫; traditional Chinese: 三角楓; pinyin: sānjiǎofēng) is a species of maple native to eastern China (from Shandong west to southeastern Gansu, south to Guangdong, and southwest to Sichuan), Taiwan and Japan. The specific epithet is a patronym honoring Dutch plant hunter J. Buerger (1804-1858).

How to grow it

It is widely grown in temperate regions as an ornamental tree. It was introduced very early to Japan, where its name translates as "China maple". More recently, it was introduced to Europe and North America in 1896, and is now occasionally grown in parks and large gardens there. Mature examples may be seen at Westonbirt Arboretum in England, the Esveld Aceretum in Boskoop, Netherlands, Arnold Arboretum in Boston, Massachusetts and many other locations.

Other Acer plants

Tapering Leaf Maple · Acer alaskense · Himalayan Maple · Acer amamiense · Broad Maple · Deep-veined Maple · Acer ashwilli · Bearded maple · Jalisco Maple · Acer brevipes · Acer browni · Indian Maple

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Acer buergerianum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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