Acer paxii Franch.

Specimens of Acer paxii were first collected by Père Jean Marie Delavay in 1883 and the species was later named by Adrien René Franchet for the German botanist Ferdinand Albin Pax (Jacobson 1996; van Gelderen, de Jong & Oterdoom 1994). Describer of numerous maples, Pax was also an important monographer of Acer, the first to divide the genus into groups, sections and series based on the position of the nectar disc within the flower (Pax 1885; Pax 1886; Pax 1902). His work laid the foundations for numerous later studies and has informed the work of all acerologists since (e.g. Sargent 1905; Koidzumi 1911; Rehder 1927–1940; de Jong 1976).

The original source of Acer paxii in western cultivation is unclear. Jacobson (1996) states that the species was sent to England by George Forrest, but that it may have arrived earlier. Regardless, the species is little-encountered. Noted as somewhat tender, particularly when young (van Gelderen, de Jong & Oterdoom 1994; van Gelderen & van Gelderen 1999), it evidently favours warmer areas where it remains evergreen. An impressive specimen accessioned in 1943 grows at The Huntington, San Marino, California (The Huntington 2026), while individuals also grow on the campus of Cabrillo College, Santa Cruz County, California (Trees of Santa Cruz County 2013). The species certainly survives in cooler parts of our area, however. The UK and Irish Champion is a multi-stemmed plant of 6 m tall in 2025, growing at Batsford Arboretum, Gloucestershire (The Tree Register 2025). Propagated from a tree at Westonbirt, since lost, two individuals grown from seed of the Batsford plant were planted back at Westonbirt in 2023 (pers. obs.). A plant at White House Farm, Kent, was measured at 2 m tall in 2019 (The Tree Register 2025). Elsewhere in Europe, a plant accessioned in 2019 at Arboretum Wespelaar was in good health in September 2025, standing over 3 m tall (pers. obs.).

Recalling the related but fully deciduous Acer buergerianum, A. paxii can be grafted onto that species (van Gelderen, de Jong & Oterdoom 1994). Exhibiting distinct differences in colour between its upper and lower leaf surfaces, the species also displays attractive deep red new growth (pers. obs.).