Fernleaf Full Moon Maple Fall Color

Fernleaf Full Moon Maple
Acer japonicum 'Aconitifolium'
(AY-ser) (juh-PON-ih-kum)

This tree is a handsome addition to any garden. It grows to about 20 feet tall with an equal spread. It can be kept smaller if the need be. The fall color is often a dazzling mixture of orange, red and yellow. With a hardiness zone rating of 5 (USDA) it can withstand quite cold winters. This tree should be more widely cultivated but you sometimes have to hunt for it at nurseries.

This second shot is the fall color on a ‘regular’ Japanese Maple, Acer palmatum. There were a few of these in the garden that looked like someone had plugged them into an electrical outlet they were glowing so red.


For gardeners in Connecticut beware that there are still ticks in the garden. I have been bitten twice in the last week and am currently taking the Doxycycline treatment for 28 days as a precaution against lyme disease. That makes a total of five bites this year. Cleaning up the leaves has been the culprit but it is impossible to know exactly where they came from.

Fernleaf Fullmoon Maple

Fernleaf Fullmoon Maple
Acer japonicum ‘Aconitifolium’
(AY-ser) (juh-PON-ih-kum)
Synonyms: Maiku jaku, Downy Japanese Maple, ハウチワカエデ

Since I have been enjoying all the Japanese Maples at work and posted on other blogs, like Ki’s, I thought I would share one of my favorite trees. The term Japanese Maples is usually applied to Acer palmatum but this tree is actually a species (different second name) Acer japonicum and it is a cultivar of that species ‘Aconitifolium’. Other cultivars of this tree include 'Vitifolium' and ‘Green Cascade’. It is a wonderful small stature tree that can grow in partial shade (should be in hot climates) and is hardy to USDA Zone 5. The species was introduced to the United States in 1864. Golden Fullmoon Maple is actually a different species A. shirasawanum. I did a post on that tree here.

A good way to tell the difference between Acer palmatum and A. japonicum is the amount of lobes on the leaf. The palmatum types usually have seven or less lobes and japonicum has 9 to 13 lobes. Sorry if all those species are confusing it kind of breaks down like this.

Acer palmatum and Acer japonicum are both species of Maple. They are both commonly referred to as Japanese Maples. The species of A. japonicum further breaks down into cultivars of Fernleaf (‘Aconitifolium’), Grape-leaved 'Vitifolium' and Weeping (‘Green Cascade’).


The Estate has two specimens of Fernleaf Fullmoon Maple. One is planted in a shady location and the other is in full sun. These pictures are from the sunny one. The one in shade grows a bit sparser and slower and gets more of a yellowy fall color. It is still beautiful. Most of the trees at work are tagged as to what they are, where they bought and how big and when they were planted. This one was bought at Imperial Nurseries, came in a 15 gallon container and was planted in the summer of 2000. As I remember it was about 5 feet tall and had a spread of about 4 feet. In the last seven years it has grown to about 8 feet tall and is about 12 feet wide. Its final height is supposed to be 10-12 feet tall and 15 feet wide but I have seen larger ones. The flowers in the spring and the emerging foliage (sometimes with a touch of pink) are beautiful as are the large green leaves in the summer. The real show starts in the fall with the change to orange, yellow and red leaves. The autumn show lasts quite a while and after the leaves fall off the winter outline isn’t bad looking. So it is really a tree that has three strong seasons.

The first picture was shot with the 60mm/2.8 Micro-Nikkor and on the second ahot I used the 50mm/1.8 Nikon lens.

Golden Full Moon Maple
Acer shirasawanum 'Aureum'
(AY-ser) (shir-ah-sa-WAN-um)

I have been working on a fairly large design for work and this is one of the trees that I want to plant. There is nothing quite like it. It adds a great look to the landscape without being bizarre. I just hope if it is approved that I can find one. I sent the client this picture via email because they weren’t sure about it. I have been doing quite a bit of work over the Internet, everything from sending proposals, invoices, status reports and orders. I have been doing a ton of plant research on line. I probably have only cracked a plant book a few times this season. If you are crafty with your search terms you can even identify plants.

The ‘Golden Full moon’ Maple is a tree that really stands out in the landscape. Someone once gave me a just grafted one. It only had two leaves and was about 4 inches tall. It is now about 4 foot tall and is getting the nice branching habit. So it is slow growing. The color is dependent on the sunlight it receives. I would never plant in a ‘hot’ area of the garden. It needs some sun to develop the real yellow color. I think the fall color is better when it gets some sum. It will grow in shade but tends to be more chartreuse.

I have been working on the pictures I took out in Las Vegas. I made a new page at my website http://digitalflowerpictures.com. I have not figured out how to put a link in these posts so you will have to use the link on the home page and then go to the Las Vegas page. I don’t think I can put a link in these posts the Safari support isn’t great at blogger.com. Here is one of the night pictures from Vegas.