Acer tsinglingense W.P. Fang & C.C. Hsieh

Acer tsinglingense is a relatively recent introduction to western cultivation, arriving in North America in 1995 (PRC 95–004) then again in 1996 as seed collected in Gansu on a NACPEC expedition (QLG 259) (Aiello & Crowley 2021). Further material was introduced to North American gardens by NACPEC collectors in 2008 (NACPEC08 40) and 2011 (NACPEC11 02 and 70) (Aiello & Crowley 2021). Following confusion between material of this species and that of A. sterculiaceum subsp. franchetii, particularly in North American collections (Justice 2010), Aiello & Crowley (2021) summarised its status in cultivation, providing notes on distinguishing the two taxa from each other and from A. sterculiaceum subsp. sterculiaceum. From that taxon, both are easily distinguished by their smaller leaves. From A. sterculiaceum subsp. franchetii, A. tsinglingense can be distinguished by its leaves with lactiferous sap, spreading lobes and dentate, rather than serrate, margins (Aiello & Crowley 2021). A. sinopurpurascens also has similar foliage (and lactiferous sap), but red or purple inflorescences rather than yellowish green (Xu et al. 2008; Aiello & Crowley 2021).

In North American collections, Acer tsinglingense has been noted as developing into a robust, medium-sized tree superior to A. sterculiaceum subsp. franchetii, exhibiting a strong branch structure with an upright-spreading crown (Justice 2010). Leaves turn shades of orange, red and purple in autumn (Justice 2010; pers. obs.). Specimens of both NACPEC11 02 and 70 are growing beneath the Thuja plicata overstorey at the David C. Lam Asian Garden at the University of British Columbia Botanical Garden, Vancouver. Slow-growing here, individuals are performing better where there is more available moisture (pers. obs. June 2025). Less frequent in European collections, a plant of NACPEC11 70, along with another gifted by The Maple Society, grows at Arboretum Wespelaar in Belgium. Neither have been yet tested by the coldest Belgian winters, but are so far ‘great performers’, and expected to be hardy there (K. Camelbeke, pers. comm. 2025). A plant also grows at Von Gimborn Arboretum, The Netherlands (Aiello & Crowley 2021), presumably derived from NACPEC material. The species is scarcely present in UK collections: a single specimen growing at Caerhays, Cornwall, is listed on the Tree Register (The Tree Register 2025), though its origins and identity are unconfirmed.