Japanese name: カジカエデ（梶楓） Scientific name:Acer diabolicum
[Overview]
A deciduous small tree or tree seen in mountain forests, growing up to 20 m tall with a trunk diameter of 60 cm.
The trunk is erect and bears thick branches.
The leaves are opposite, pentagonal, 4–12 cm long and 5–15 cm wide, palmately 3–5-lobed, with the margins of the lobes almost parallel.
The leaf margins have large tooth-like serrations.
The petiole is 1.5–10 cm long, about as long as the leaf or shorter.
Both sides of the leaves and the petioles have short hairs.
Young leaves are often tinged reddish purple.
The leaves turn yellow or red in autumn.
It is dioecious.
The flowers are borne at the branch tips in racemes 3–5 cm long, with about 5–11 flowers in male inflorescences and 3–9 in female inflorescences.
The male inflorescences hang down, while the female inflorescences point slightly upward.
The inflorescences and flower stalks have short white hairs.
The flowers are pale green to red, with 4–5 sepals and 4–5 petals.
The fruits are 2.5–3 cm long and borne in pairs, with long yellowish-brown stiff bristles, each with a propeller-like wing, and the wings spread at an acute angle.
[Notes]
The Japanese name likens the leaves to those of the Kajinoki.
