Paperbark maple

Paperbark maple
Acer griseum at the Morton Arboretum Accession 836-58-7
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Sapindales
Family:	Sapindaceae
Genus:	Acer
Species:	A. griseum
Binomial name
Acer griseum (Franch.) Pax 1902

Acer griseum (paperbark maple; simplified Chinese: 血皮枫; traditional Chinese: 血皮楓; pinyin: xuè pí fēng) is a species of flowering plant in the family Sapindaceae, native to central China.Acer griseum is found in the Chinese provinces of Gansu, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Shanxi and Sichuan, at altitudes of 1,500–2,000 m (4,921–6,562 ft).

It is a small to medium-sized deciduous tree, reaching 6–9 m (20–30 ft) tall and 5–6 m (16–20 ft) wide, with a trunk up to 70 cm (28 in) in circumference. The bark is smooth, shiny orange-red, peeling in thin, papery layers; it may become fissured in old trees. The shoots are densely downy at first, this wearing off by the second or third year and the bark exfoliating by the third or fourth year.

The leaves are compound, with a 2–4 cm petiole with three leaflets, each 3-10 cm long and 2-6 cm broad, dark green above, bright glaucous blue-green beneath, with several blunt teeth on the margins.

The yellow flowers are androdioecious, produced in small pendent corymbs in spring, the fruit being a paired samara with two winged seeds about 1 cm long with a 3 cm wing.

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Wikipedia