Acer palmatum Seiryu - Japanese Maple

Acer palmatum 'Seiryu' is an essential Japanese maple, prized for its highly laciniate foliage in the style of Acer dissectum with very bright colours from spring to autumn. Bursting with a tender almost fluorescent green, its leaves then turn yellow-orange and purple-red in autumn, bringing colour and light to the shadier corners of the garden. This striking small tree has a dense habit from the base, initially erect and then widening with age in layers, enhanced by strongly coloured red branches in winter. Vigorous but slow-growing, it is the perfect choice to decorate a small, less sunny garden in all seasons or to accompany other ericaceous plants in a Japanese-style bed.

Native to eastern China, Korea and Japan, Acer palmatum is the origin of a multitude of horticultural varieties that compete in beauty. The Japanese maple belongs, like all maples, to the Sapindaceae (Aceraceae) family. It is relatively hardy but is susceptible to dry and cold winds, scorching exposures, and dry and chalky soils.

The cultivar 'Seiryu', which means "green dragon" in Japanese, owes its name precisely to the bright colours of its foliage, which is more heavily cut than most Japanese maples. Its habit is initially upright and bushy, then widens at maturity. Well-branched from the base and dense, its fine branches develop into graceful layers. Slow-growing, it will reach an average height of 3 m (9.8 ft) and a spread of 4 m (13.1 ft),  depending on the growing conditions. In spring, this small tree develops slightly arched red young branches that turn reddish-brown, and young shoots of a bright tender green. They unfold into deeply cut palmate leaves. In autumn, they take on yellow-orange to purple-red tones. The discreet flowering takes place in May-June. The flowers grouped in small clusters sometimes produce some fruits with curved wings, called samaras, 3 cm (1.2 in) long.

Acer palmatum 'Seiryu', with the uniqueness of its foliage and its natural elegance, stands out from afar in the garden or when planted in a container on a terrace. Extremely decorative from spring to autumn, it deserves a prominent place. The Japanese maple is not strictly speaking an ericaceous plant, but it prefers moist soils rich in humus. Chinese azaleas, pieris, hydrangeas, wild camellias, ferns, and heathers will be its most beautiful companions. It can form a magnificent bonsai to be cultivated as a flat-top. Mix several varieties of Japanese maples to vary the colours and structures of the foliage; the effect is always dazzling at the end of the season. Its light green tone combines wonderfully with variegated foliage shrubs (dogwoods, mock orange, elaeagnus), or almost black like that of Styrax japonica 'Evening Light', for example.