Acer fabri Seeds | Faber’s Maple
LATIN NAME: Acer fabri
COMMON NAME: Faber’s Maple
Plant Profile
Acer fabri is an evergreen maple of southern China, growing eight to twelve metres with a smooth grey trunk and leathery, lance-shaped leaves that are not lobed at all. It is one of the few maples that keeps its leaves through winter, and the new growth flushes bronze-red before hardening to dark green.
It grows in the evergreen forests of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan and Sichuan, usually in shade and often along streams. The flowers are small and greenish in spring, and the fruit is a pair of samaras with wings set at a narrow angle. The samaras are small, with wings set at an acute angle, and they spin as they fall in autumn.
Science & Biotechnology
The unlobed leaf is unusual in a genus known for its palmate leaves, and it reflects the shade of the evergreen forest: a narrow, entire leaf with a thick cuticle loses less water and tolerates low light better than a broad lobed one. The species is placed in section Palmata, whose other members are mostly deciduous and lobed.
Evergreen maples are less cold-hardy than their deciduous relatives and are grown mainly in mild climates. The wood is pale, hard and close-grained, used for small turnery and for fuel, and the tree is not exploited commercially at any scale. The tree is also planted in temple courtyards in Guangdong, where the evergreen canopy is valued as much as the red new growth. The species also tolerates air pollution better than most maples, which is why it appears in city gardens in Guangdong and Fujian.
Uses & Benefits
The tree is grown as an ornamental in mild temperate and subtropical gardens, where its winter foliage and red new growth are the attraction. It is also used for bonsai and for penjing, since it tolerates pruning and grows slowly enough to hold a shape.
In China it is planted in parks and temple gardens, and it is occasionally used in traditional medicine, though it has no place in the national pharmacopoeia. As a garden tree it is best in shade, where the foliage stays dark and glossy rather than scorching at the margins.
Growing from Seed
Seed should be sown fresh in autumn, or stratified for three months and sown in spring. Germination is usually in the second spring, and the seedlings are slow for the first two years. Cuttings of semi-ripe wood in summer are possible but not easy.
Plants want acid to neutral soil, shade or part shade and steady moisture, and they are damaged below about minus ten. They transplant well when young and badly when large, so buy small. Prune only to shape, in late winter, and mulch to keep the shallow roots cool. In a container the tree stays small for years, which suits a patio or a shaded courtyard.
Our Take
An evergreen maple for a shaded mild garden, grown for its winter leaf and red new growth rather than for autumn colour.
Related Reading
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