Acer maximowiczianum (Nikko maple; syn. A. nikoense Maxim.), is a species of maple widely distributed in China (Anhui, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang) and Japan (Honshū, Kyūshū, Shikoku).Xu, T.-z., Chen, Y., de Jong, P. C., & Oterdoom, H. J. Flora of China: Aceraceae (draft) Shu Suehiro: Acer maximowiczianum

Description It is a slender deciduous tree that reaches a height of but is usually smaller.van Gelderen, C.J. & van Gelderen, D.M. (1999). Maples for Gardens: A Color Encyclopedia. It is a trifoliate maple, related to such other species as threeflower maple (Acer triflorum) and paperbark maple (Acer griseum) but has dark gray to blackish bark dissimilar to the exfoliating bark of either.

The leaves have a petiole and three leaflets; the leaflets are oblong, long and broad, with dense, soft pubescence and smooth margins. The hard, horizontally spreading samaras are long and broad, and have the same parthenocarpic tendencies as those of A. griseum.

Taxonomy The Chinese populations are sometimes treated as a separate subspecies A. maximowiczianum subsp. megalocarpum (Rehder) A.E.Murray, but this is not recognised as distinct by the Flora of China.

Many older texts refer to the species under its synonym A. nikoense Maxim., but as Maximowicz had also cited the name Negundo nikoense Miq. in synonymy, his new name had to be regarded as the same as that under the ICBN. Miquel pointed out that his Negundo nikoense was actually a different plant to the maple Maximowicz had intended to describe, and therefore gave the Nikko Maple a new name, honouring Maximowicz in the process.Clarke, D. L. (1988), in Bean, W. J. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles, 8th ed., Supplement.

Acerogenin M, a cyclic diarylheptanoid, can be found in A. nikoense.

Cultivation Nikko maple was first introduced to cultivation in 1881, when seeds were imported by the Veitch Nurseries in England,Bean, W. J. (1970). Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles, 8th ed. after they were discovered by Charles Maries in the forests of Hokkaidō. It is rarely seen in cultivation outside of arboreta. The largest specimens in England are up to tall and trunk diameter.Tree Register of the British Isles In the United States, a mature specimen may be seen at Arnold Arboretum in Boston, Massachusetts.

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Nikko Maple image