Acer tutcheri Duthie

Deciduous trees to 15 m. Bark greyish-brown. Branchlets glabrous, purplish-red or greenish, turning darker. Buds ovoid. Leaves pentagonal in outline, base truncate to rounded, 3– to 5-lobed, 6–9 × 2–13 cm, lobes triangular ovate, apically acute or acuminate, occasionally caudate, margins serrulate with appressed teeth, upper surface mid-green, lower surface paler, glabrous; petiole 2–3 cm long, green, glabrous. Inflorescence shortly paniculate. Flowers 4-merous, usually dioecious, pedicels 0.5–0.8 cm long, sepals ovate to oblong, petals obovate, stamens 8, inserted inside the villous nectar disc, ovary densely pilose. Samaras 1.5–2.5 cm long, wings spreading variously. Nutlets ovoid. Flowering in April, fruiting in September (China). (Xu et al. 2008).

Distribution  China Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, southern Hunan, southern Jiangxi, southern Zhejiang Taiwan

Habitat Forests between 300 and 1000 m asl.

USDA Hardiness Zone 7-8

RHS Hardiness Rating H4

Conservation status Least concern (LC)

Taxonomic note Two varieties are treated by Xu et al. (2008): the nominate variety, var. tutcheri, with samaras 1.5–2.5 cm long and spreading variously, and var. shimadae, which has smaller samaras (~1.5 cm), which spread at an acute angle.