FAR EASTERN MAPLES. 



343 



few spots where one or other of the many forms could not be planted to 

 advantage. 



At the head of the palmatum group the two handsome forms 

 sanguineum and atropurpureum undoubtedly stand ; there is nothing' at 

 all approaching their elegant highly coloured foliage among deciduous 

 trees. Seen at a short distance the foliage is not only dazzling in colour, 

 but also exceedingly neat, and, seen from afar when lit up by the sun's 

 rays, it scintillates among the other shrubs like a ruby. 



The two forms are close to each other in general appearance, but 

 sanguineum may be distinguished from atropurpureum by having red 

 bark on its young wood and a green under surface to its leaves. 



In the neighbourhood of New York and Boston these two forms are 

 grown in large quantities, and develop remarkably brilliant tints under 

 the bright sunshine of American summers. 



One of the finest specimens ot A. palmatum sanguineum is growing 

 in the gardens at Eastnor Castle, Ledbury, Herefordshire, and a very 

 fine piece of A. palmatum atropurpureum is in a garden at Sunningdale, 

 Berks. (Fig. 83.) 



A charming little variety, quite one of the gems of the series, is that 

 named corallina, rarely seen, as it is difficult to propagate and rarely 

 procurable. This year at Coombe Wood the early spring foliage was 

 exceptionally brilliant, and had at a distance the appearance of an Indian 

 Azalea. The leaves are very small, five-lobed, of a rosy- crimson when 

 first produced, changing to a pale mottled green suffused with rose in 

 the summer : a charming subject as a rock-garden plant, of dwarf and 

 compact growth, it would remain many years in one spot before it became 

 too large. 



A. palmatum ampclopsi folium is an elegant form with gracefully 

 arched branches and leaves resembling those of the Virginian Creeper, but 

 smaller and more delicate in texture, in colour a deep crimson, becoming 

 darker as the season advances. 



Its great value is as a foreground plant, on account of its graceful 

 habit of growth and the bright colour of its leaves. A. palmatum aureum 

 has its leaves cut into five deep lobes, and is more or less blotched with 

 deep golden-yellow. 



The form of palmatum called involutum is a small-leaved variety 

 with the margins curiously infolded. The young shoots have a crimson- 

 brown shining bark, and the leaves, which have comparatively long 

 reddish footstalks, are cut into five linear sharp- pointed green lobes, 

 the longest of which is not much more than an inch in length. A 

 variegated form has distinct rose-coloured margins to the young leaves. 



Acer palmatum ribcsifolium has from five- to seven-lobed leaves, 

 which are notched along the margin, like those of a Currant, hence the 

 varietal name. They are dark green in colour and glabrous, and the 

 plant is dwarf and very compact in habit. 



A. palmatum roseo -marginatum is a very distinct and attractive form, 

 with prettily variegated foliage. The leaves are divided into leaflets, 

 three to five in number, light green in colour, marked along the margin 

 with a narrow irregular band of rose-colour or white. 



The second division of the palmatum group comprises those varieties 



