Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) — Plotwright

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Japanese maple

Habit (mature) · Acabashi / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Limited coverage

Japanese maple

Acer palmatum

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.

Review: Source-backed

Climate fit: moderate (44/100)

Focal point

Structure

Light

Full sun / Part sun / Part shade

Water

Moderate water

Mature size

120-300" tall · 180" apart

Hardy in zones

5a-8b

very cold to frosty winters

Summer heat range

Cool-Hot

cool to hot summers Interim Plotwright tier until the plant AHS range is authored.

Native in Illinois

No

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Cold hardiness

Now

Zone 6b

USDA

Chicago, IL · 1991-2020 average annual coldest day

Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (1991-2020 climatology) via ArcGIS FeatureServer

Well-suited

2050

Zone 7b

Plotwright

Your zone + climate-model shift · SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry)

Well-suited

In plain terms: cold winters — coldest nights typically around -3°F.

✓

Well-suited today and still thriving in 2050.

Heat tolerance

°C

°F

Loading current AHS heat-zone and plant heat-fit data at your coordinates…

Where this plant fits

Suitable across 40 ecoregions — 34 climate-resilient through 2070 · 5 suited today · 1 newly possible by 2070. Best matches first.

Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests

Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests

Arizona Mountains forests

Blue Mountains forests

Canadian Aspen forests and parklands

Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests

Central Tallgrass prairie

Central-Southern Cascades Forests

Colorado Rockies forests

Cross-Timbers savanna-woodland

Sources & citations

Cite this page

For lesson plans, articles, or research that uses this page. To cite a single upstream fact instead, use its specific source listed below.

Plotwright. (2026, May 17). Japanese maple (Acer palmatum). Retrieved 2026, June 5, from https://plotwright.garden/plants/japanese-maple

Sources for every fact

Every fact on this page traces to a source. 18 fields cited — 18 source-backed.

Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder

Botanical research database

Backs 17 fields

Identity

Summary

Plant type

Light

Moisture

Hardiness

Heat zone

Size

Spacing

Habit

Design roles

Seasonal interest

Growth stages

Lifecycle

Regional guidance

Success tips

Designer notes

Wikimedia Commons

Photo · CC BY-SA 4.0

Backs 1 field

Image

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The photos above are our reviewed reference set, curated for accuracy.

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