Acer caudatum Wallich

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Credits

Dan Crowley (2021)

Recommended citation
Crowley, D. (2021), 'Acer caudatum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/acer/acer-caudatum/). Accessed 2024-03-18.

Genus

Synonyms

  • Acer acuminatum Dippel
  • Acer caudatum var. multiserratum (Maximowicz) Rehder
  • Acer caudatum subsp. georgei (Diels) A. E. Murray
  • Acer multiserratum Maximowicz
  • Acer papilio King

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

herbarium
A collection of preserved plant specimens; also the building in which such specimens are housed.
lectotype
Specimen or illustration chosen to serve as the type specimen for a taxon in cases where one was not designated by the original author.

Credits

Dan Crowley (2021)

Recommended citation
Crowley, D. (2021), 'Acer caudatum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/acer/acer-caudatum/). Accessed 2024-03-18.

A deciduous tree to 10 m. Bark grey to brown, finely ridged, soon becoming flaky. Branchlets stout, dark reddish to green, pubescent at first, lenticillate, turning greyish brown. Buds ovoid, with two to three pairs of valvate scales, outer scales ovate. Leaves broadly ovate in outline, base deeply cordate to cordate, five (-seven) lobed, 8–12 × 8–12 cm, lobes triangular ovate, apically acuminate to caudate, margins doubly and sharply serrate with acuminate teeth, upper surface matt, light to mid green, primary veins raised, secondary veins lightly impressed, pubescent along veins at least at first, lower surface pale to whitish green, pubescent throughout with short, yellowish hairs; petiole 5–9 (–20) cm long, reddish or green, glabrous or pubescent, often slightly grooved, broadest at base; autumn colours usually yellow. Inflorescence terminal, erect, racemose-paniculate, pubescent, many flowered. Flowers 5-merous, peduncles 8–10 cm, pedicels 0.5–0.8 cm, slender, slightly pubescent, sepals ~0.3 cm, ovate to lanceolate, petals yellowish white, ~ 0.7 cm, narrowly oblong, stamens eight, inserted in the middle or on the outside of the nectar disc. Samaras 2.5 to 2.8 cm long, wings spreading acutely or erectly. Nutlets ovoid to subglobose. Flowering in May, after the leaves have emerged, fruiting September to October. (van Gelderen et al. 1994; Rushforth 1999; Xu et al. 2008).

Distribution  BhutanMyanmarChina Southeastern Gansu, western Henan, western Hubei, Ningxia, southern Shaanxi, western Sichuan, southeastern Xizang, northwestern Yunnan India North Nepal

Habitat Alpine forests, between 1700 and 4000 m asl.

USDA Hardiness Zone 4

RHS Hardiness Rating H5

Conservation status Least concern (LC)

see A. papilio

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

The name A. caudatum, rejected as ambiguous in the note under A. papilio on page 220, is upheld by Dr Hiroshi Hara in Journ. Jap. Bot., Vol. 50, p. 268 (1975). While it is the case that there is no specimen of A. caudatum in the sense of A. papilio among the Wallich specimens under his No. 1225 in the Wallich Herbarium at Kew, there is one in the British Museum Herbarium, and this is chosen by Dr Hara as the lectotype of A. caudatum Wall.