Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Angiosperms
Class: Eudicots
Order: Sapindales
Family: Sapindaceae[1]
Genus: Acer
Species: A. palmatum
Cultivar name: Acer palmatums 'Osakazuki'
Common names: Osakazuki maple.
Acer palmatums 'Osakazuki' (>6 m tall) is a cultivar of Acer palmatums, a native to Japan, North Korea, South Korea, eastern Mongolia, and southeast Russia.
Osakazuki' is one of the oldest cultivars, having been listed in catalogues since the mid-1800's. It is claimed that 'Osakazuki' leaves have most intense colour of all of the Japanese maples.
It may have multiple trunks joining close to the ground. It has a rounded habit, with relatively large, 7-lobed, rich green leaves that turn to brilliant orange-scarlet in autumn. The flowers are produced in small cymes, the individual flowers with five red or purple sepals and five whitish petals. The fruit is a pair of samaras (winged achene), each samara are 2–3 cm long with a 6–8 mm seed. A samara is often referred to as a wingnut, helicopter, whirlibird, whirligig, polynose, or a spinning jenny.
This cultivar is recommended by: United States National Arboretum and wasgiven the Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society.
The photo below is of the cultivar Acer palmatums 'Osakazuki'
[1]
A fallen leaf.
