Acer

A refined small deciduous tree from the mountains of Japan, Manchuria, and Korea, grown above all for its nearly round, many-lobed leaves and its brilliant red-orange autumn color. It builds slowly to a rounded, spreading 15-30 feet, carrying small reddish-purple flowers in spring before the foliage hardens. A classic specimen and dappled-shade understory tree that resents hot, dry, windy sites; not native to North America.

A deciduous small tree or large shrub from Japan and Korea, grown above all for its delicate palmate leaves — five to seven (rarely nine) pointed, toothed lobes — and its sculptural branching. It reaches 10-25 feet over decades, carries insignificant reddish-purple flowers in April, and finishes the season in shades of yellow, red-purple, and bronze. A classic specimen and dappled-shade understory tree; not native to North America.

The most widely distributed deciduous tree in eastern North America and one of the few that thrives across a 7,000-foot elevation range from Newfoundland to Florida. Earliest spring bloom of any eastern hardwood (January-March in NC) gives early-emerging bees their first nectar source; brilliant red fall color is the species's headline, but the timing varies tree-to-tree — making cultivars with named selections ('October Glory', 'Red Sunset') the reliable design choice for guaranteed display.

The Canadian flag tree and the foundation of the eastern North American maple syrup industry — and one of the most reliably beautiful fall-color trees in the temperate world, with brilliant red, orange, and yellow leaves often on the same canopy. Slower-growing than red maple but longer-lived (200-300 years in optimal sites) with denser shade and superior wood. Intolerant of compacted soil, road salt, and high heat — site away from streets and parking lots.

A Pacific Northwest native small maple of understory + woodland-edge habitats producing rounded palmate leaves with brilliant red-orange fall color + a delicate multi-stemmed shrubby-to-small-tree habit. Native to the Cascade + Coast Range forests; thrives in cool moist Pacific Northwest conditions where eastern maples struggle. Among the most graceful native ornamental small trees for shaded gardens.