April 6, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
505 
JAPANESE MAPLES. 
While the blanks in shrubbery borders are being 
made up, some of the Japanese Maples should find 
a place. The name is applied to the exceedingly 
numerous forms of Acer palmatum, often better 
known as A. polymorpbum in gardens. The original 
form has five-lobed leaves of small size, neat form, 
mentioned may be recognised by reference to the 
accompanying illustration, for which we are indebted 
to Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Chelsea. A. p. atro- 
purpureum differs from the type chiefly in size and 
colour, which gives it a bold appearance and makes 
it stand out prominently amongst a collection of 
shrubs. The leaves are of a dark coppery purple, 
and the young shoots partake much of the same 
pale green leaves consisting of nine to eleven leaflets 
arranged almost in the form of a circle. The central 
ones are largest and longest, but their special 
feature is that all the larger leaflets are cut into 
narrow segments extending almost to the midrib. 
Somewhat similar in form is A. p. dissectum, but 
the leaflets and their segments are narrower, more 
graceful, and of a deep bronzy hue. The shoots are 
and spread out like the fingers of the hand. From 
this type we have variations that are as numerous as 
they are remarkable, for in no other garden shrub 
or tree have we such an amount of variation in a 
single species. A. p. roseo marginatum has five to 
nine instead of five leaflets of a light green, margined 
with rosy-pink, but otherwise they are comparable 
to those of the type. Most of the forms here 
hue. The variety A. p. sanguineum has similarly 
formed leaves to the last-named, but they are alto¬ 
gether brighter in colour, being of a deep reddish- 
crimson. 
The variations in the number of leaflets, and the 
the way in which they are cut, offer variations of 
quite a different kind, and alter the whole character 
of the bush. That named A. p. palmatifidum has 
long and slender, as are those of some of the other 
varieties, and assume a gracefully drooping habit 
Still more narrower are the leaflets of A. p. lineari- 
lobum, which are linear, cut, and toothed. They 
are reddish when they first expand, but gradually 
become green with the exception of their edges and 
the leaf stalks. The leaves of A. p. reticulatum are 
seven-lobed, sharply serrate and emerald green with 
