Acer davidii

Acer davidii , is a species of maple in the snakebark maple group. It is native to China, from Jiangsu south to Fujian and Guangdong, and west to southeastern Gansu and Yunnan.

It is a small deciduous tree growing to 10–15 m tall with a trunk up to 40 cm diameter, though usually smaller and often with multiple trunks, and a spreading crown of long, arching branches. The bark is smooth, olive-green with regular narrow pale vertical stripes on young trees, eventually becoming dull grey-brown at the base of old trees. The are 6–18 cm long and 4-9 cm broad, with a petiole 3–6 cm long; they are dark green above, paler below, ovate, unlobed or weakly three-lobed, with a serrated margin. They turn to bright yellow, orange or red in the autumn. The flowers are small, yellow, with five sepals and petals about 4 mm long; they are produced on arching to pendulous 7–12 cm racemes in late spring, with male and female flowers on different racemes. The nutlets are 7–10 mm long and 4–6 mm broad, with a wing 2–3 cm long and 5 mm broad.

There are two subspecies,
*''Acer davidii'' subsp. ''davidii''. Père David's Maple. Bark greenish-brown with white stripes. Shoots pinkish-green. Leaf petiole pink to red; leaf margin usually single-serrate with variably-sized serrations.
*''Acer davidii'' subsp. ''grosseri'' de Jong. Her's Maple . Bark green with white to pale green stripes. Shoots green. Leaf petiole green; leaf margin more often three-lobed and double-serrate.

Cultivation and uses

Along with '''', the two subspecies of Père David's Maple are among the most commonly cultivated snakebark maples. Both are relatively hardy and fast-growing.

Among the cultivars of ''A. davidii'' are 'Canton' , 'George Forrest' , 'Ernest Wilson' , and 'Serpentine' . In some cases, these cultivars cannot be assigned to one subspecies the other but are simply considered cultivars of ''A. davidii''.