Common Name: ivy-leaved maple
Type: Tree
Family: Sapindaceae
Native Range: Japan
Zone: 5 to 8
Height: 20.00 to 30.00 feet
Spread: 20.00 to 30.00 feet
Bloom Time: April
Bloom Description: Yellow
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Hedge, Shade Tree, Street Tree
Flower: Fragrant, Insignificant
Leaf: Good Fall
Culture
Easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Prefers part shade, particularly in hot summer climates. Also prefers acidic soils that are kept consistently moist. Best performance occurs in cool summer climates. This is a dioecious species whose female plants will develop parthenocarpic fruit when a male pollinator is not nearby.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Acer cissifolium commonly called ivy-leaved maple or ash-leaved maple, is native to mountainous areas of Japan. It is a small, deciduous tree that typically grows to 20-30’ tall. Initial growth is upright oval, but with age this tree typically develops a wide-spreading, globose form. As the common names suggests, this maple is perhaps best noted for its compound trifoliate leaves that resemble in appearance those of some ashes and ivies. Obovate to ovate, serrate leaflets (each to 4” long) are olive to medium green. Young stems are reddish-purple. Small fragrant yellow flowers bloom in pendant racemes (to 4” long) in spring. Flowers are followed by winged samaras (to 1” long). Smooth gray bark. Variable yellow to orange to red fall color.
Genus name is the Latin name for a maple tree.
Specific epithet refers to the similarity of the trifoliate leaves of this tree to the leaves of some vines in the genus Cissus.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems. Potential disease problems include verticillium wilt, leaf spots, tar spot, canker and root rots. Potential insect problems include aphids, scale, borers and caterpillars. Mites may appear.
Uses
Uncommonly found in cultivation. Attractive small tree or large shrub for the landscape.