Acer ginnala var. aidzuense ("Karakogikaede")

Japanese name: カラコギカエデ （唐子木楓、鹿子木楓）
Scientific name: Acer ginnala var. aidzuense

[Overview]
A small deciduous tree found in slightly moist places in the mountains.
As it grows, the bark peels off, forming a fawn-spot (kanoko) pattern.
The leaves are opposite, elliptic, 5–12 cm long and 2–7 cm wide, usually shallowly 3-lobed, with doubly serrate margins.
They have three palmate veins and pinnate veins.
Soft hairs grow on the veins on the underside of the leaf.
Some leaves are simple and unlobed, and others are pinnately cut.
The petiole is 2–6 cm long, about 1/3–1/2 the length of the leaf, hairless and tinged with red.
The leaves turn red in autumn.
The flowers are borne 30–150 in compound corymbs at the branch tips, with male flowers and bisexual flowers on the same tree.
The flowers have 5 sepals and 5 petals.
The petals are yellowish green.
The fruits are about 3 cm long and borne in pairs, each with a propeller-like wing.
The wings are at an acute angle or hardly spread and are parallel, with conspicuous veins.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed or cuttings.
It prefers a well-drained place from partial shade to full sun.
Partial shade is better, especially while the tree is young.
In shade, the autumn color develops poorly.
Longhorn beetles and aphids cause damage, so kill them as soon as they are found.

[Notes]
Because of its trunk with a fawn-spot (kanoko) pattern, it was called "Kanokogi-kaede," and the Japanese name is thought to be a corruption of this.

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