Acer griseum, Paperbark Maple.....Fresh germplasm!

The maples are earning their money this fall. This is one of three specimens of Paperbark Maple in the Asian Collections that came from a NACPEC collection on Wudang Shan in the Province of Hubei in 1994. Until then, most if not all of the Paperbark Maples grown in the US were descendents of two plants collected and imported by E.H. Wilson in 1907.

The plant pictured grows alongside the path from Hickey Hill Road to the Pagoda. I took the bottom photograph from the road so it's possible to see it before you actually enter the collection. Another specimen from the collection is growing in bed "K-0", which is the small triangular bed adjacent to the large weeping Katsura tree.