Acer miyabei

Acer miyabei (Miyabe's or Miyabe maple; Japanese: クロビイタヤ: kurobiitaya) is a species of maple native to Japan, where it occurs in Hokkaidō and the Tōhoku region in northern Honshū.[1]

Acer miyabei
Morton Arboretum acc. 550-32*11
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Sapindaceae
Genus: Acer
Section: Acer sect. Platanoidea
Species:
A. miyabei
Binomial name
Acer miyabei

It is a small to medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 10–20 m tall, with a trunk 30–40 cm diameter with rough, grey-brown bark. The leaves are five-lobed (the basal pair of lobes usually small), 7–20 cm long and 12–20 cm broad, with a 5–15 cm long petiole; the petiole bleeds white latex if cut. The flowers are produced in spring at the same time as the leaves open, yellow-green, in erect corymbs. The fruit is a samara with two winged seeds aligned at 180°, each seed 8 mm wide, flat, with a 2 cm wing.[1][2]

It is an endangered species, confined to scattered locations close to streams and rivers.[1][3]

There are two varieties:[4]

  • Acer miyabei var. miyabei. Samaras downy.
  • Acer miyabei var. shibatai (Nakai) Hara. Samaras hairless.

It is closely related to Acer miaotaiense from China—some authors treat this as a subspecies of A. miyabei, as Acer miyabei subsp. miaotaiense (P.C.Tsoong) E.Murray—and to Acer campestre from Europe.[1][2][5]

Uses

This tree is cultivated as an ornamental plant in the United States, but is not common in trade. It is most often found in arboreta. It withstands cold temperatures, urban conditions, and drought once established. It is a non-invasive substitute for Acer platanoides. A dense, uniform cultivar has been selected at the Morton Arboretum named Acer miyabei 'Morton' and marketed under the trade name State Street® maple.

References
  1. Rushforth, K. (1999). Trees of Britain and Europe. Collins ISBN 0-00-220013-9.
  2. Les Erables: Acer miyabei (in French)
  3. Red List of Threatened Plants of Japan
  4. Search for kurobiitaya (in Japanese) Archived March 19, 2004, at the Wayback Machine; google translation
  5. Tingzhi Xu; Yousheng Chen; Piet C. de Jong; Herman John Oterdoom & Chin-Sung Chang. "Acer miaotaiense P. C. Tsoong, Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew. 1954: 83. 1954". Flora of China. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
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