Miyabe Maple – Acer miyabei

Accession 550-32*10, fall colors

Miyabe Maple is an outstanding shade tree, featuring dense, dark green summer foliage, outstanding fall yellow, and an appealing upright rounded habit with a wide crown, growing to 50 feet. Zone 4-8 [2]

Miyabe Maples at the Morton Arboretum were started from seeds in 1932. Accession 550-32*12 [1]

This tree likes full sun and grows best in moist, well-drained soils. Tolerant of mild drought, prefers slightly acid soil. Relatively short-lived fall color is a spectacular, vibrant butter-yellow to golden-yellow, depending on temperature changes and site conditions. [2]

Winged maple seeds, called samaras, are notorious cloggers of gutter downspout and a favorite food of box elder bugs. Chicagoland Grows, a partnership between the Chicago Botanic Garden and The Morton Arboretum, reports a cultivar of the Miyabe, trade name ‘State Street‘, is a cold-hardy alternative to hedge maple, A. campestre, and more resistant to heat and drought than Norway Maple.

References:
1. Miyabe Maples, Morton Arboretum accessions 550-32*10-14 photos Bruce Marlin
2. The Morton Arboretum, “Miyabe Maple”
3. USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. (GRIN) “Acer barbinerve Maxim.”

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