338 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Wood is 15 feet in height with a spread of branches 14 feet in diameter. 

 (Fig. 80.) 



In Acer nikoense we have a beautiful and remarkable Maple, note- 

 worthy for its hairy trifoliate leaves, and for the brilliant tints which 

 these assume in autumn. 



It is a rare tree in Japan, and although it bears the name of the 

 lovely district from which it was first imported, it is only occasionally 

 met with there. 



The trifoliate leaves are hairy on both surfaces, and the petioles and 

 young wood are thickly covered w T ith hairs. When first produced the 

 leaves are of a red:lish-bronze hue, changing as they mature to a deep 

 pea-green above and a distinctly glaucous hue beneath. 



The leaflets are of oblong shape, with serrate margins ; the largest 

 lobe measures 4 inches in length by 2 in breadth, and the lower pair 

 3 inches in length by H in breadth. 



In autumn, especially in the south and west of England, as also in 

 Japan, they assume the most brilliant scarlet tint, and, in the view of 

 Sargent, are not surpassed in beauty by those of any other tree in Japan. 

 The "keys" are produced in drooping racemes; they consist of two 

 very prominent cells, which are thickly coated with hair, and two 

 rather broad spreading wings, which are strongly veined and slightly 

 drooping. 



A specimen at Coombe Wood measures 23 feet in height, and has 

 a spread of branches 28 feet in diameter. (Fig. 81.) 



The type species, Acer palmatum, of which there are so very many 

 forms, is a small compact tree with five-pointed leaves, of a bright lively 

 green, and numerous small branches, which are almost entirely hidden 

 by the wealth of foliage the tree produces. 



There is a remarkably handsome specimen at Coombe Wood, probably 

 the largest in this country, 25 feet in height, with a diameter of 26 feet, 

 a glorious block of green in perfect health. 



According to London, who figured it in his " Encyclopaedia of Trees 

 and Shrubs," it was introduced to this country in 1820. The leaves are 

 small, yellowish-green in colour when first produced, changing to a 

 deeper tint when mature, divided into five pointed lobes and serrated 

 along the margin. The petiole is from 1 to H inches in length, and is 

 coloured red where exposed to the light. 



The foliage is produced in the form of layers or strata, and is so 

 luxuriant that almost all the branches are obscured during summer ; but, 

 though so densely leaved, the finely pointed foliage and cheerful green 

 hue give the tree a light and graceful appearance. It assumes a bright 

 red hue in the autumn. (Fig. 82.) 



The numerous forms of Acer palmatum may be roughly classed into 

 three divisions, though these tend to merge into each other : (1) the 

 palmatum group, with five-lobed leaves resembling more or less those of 

 the type ; (2) the septemlobum group, with leaves fan-shaped and usually 

 of seven divisions ; and (8) the dissectum group, with deeply cleft leaves, 

 the subdivisions being usually again much serrated. 



The varieties in each division are many, and most of them are worthy 

 of cultivation where suitable situations can be found, and there are very 



