Acer thomsonii Miq.

A deciduous tree to 30 m. Bark brown to dark brown, smooth. Branchlets greenish-brown,glabrous. Buds ovoid, with 5–6 pairs of imbricate scales, brown. Leaves subcoriaceous, suborbicular or broadly ovate in outline, base cordate, unlobed to three-lobed, 8–30 × 8–30 cm, lobes short, apex acute, margins usually entire, or remotely serrate, upper surface mid green; petiole 5–20 cm long; Inflorescence lateral, racemose, erect or pendulous, 5-merous, petals as long as sepals, stamens eight, ovary glabrous. Samaras 6–12 cm long, wings spreading variously; Flowering (March) April and May; fruiting September to November (in the wild). (van Gelderen et al. 1994; Xu et al. 2008; van Welzen, Manandhar & Pendry 2017).

Distribution  Bhutan Myanmar China Southern Xizang, southern Yunnan India Nepal Thailand

Habitat Mixed forests and valleys between 900 and 3000 m.

USDA Hardiness Zone 6

RHS Hardiness Rating H6

Conservation status Least concern (LC)

Taxonomic note This species was treated as a subspecies of Acer sterculiaceum by van Gelderen et al. (1994), but at specific rank by Xu et al. (2008) and van Welzen, Manandhar and Pendry (2017), whose treatments are followed here.