Taipei Botanical Garden & Taiwan Forestry Experiment Station (June.13. 2004)

On17 zones there are planted Needle-leaf trees, broadleaf trees, coconuts, bamboo,
water plants, and cactuses. Botanical specimen exceeds 300,000 species. Maples are at the 14th division.

This was the second time that I had visited here. There are 2 types of maples in the garden,
such as Qingfeng (Acer serrulatum Hayata) and Zhangyeqi (Acer albopurpurascens Hayata).

This time leaves of the maples grew thick into green.


Acer serrulatum Hayata, alias Acer oliverianum ssp.formosanum


Bark of Qingfeng (Acer serrulatum Hayata), Right : Bark of a young tree


Zhangyeqi(Acer albopurpurascens Hayata), alias Flying Moth tree

　We saw Taiwanese trident maples (Acer buergerianum Miq. var. formosanum)
as roadside trees outside the garden.


Taiwanese trident maples, Upper : 3 lobed, lower : including unlobed

At Taiwan Forestry Experiment Station I could meet Mr. Zhong shiwen who is a botanist working on herbarium.
And I got a book by him on taiwanese trees autumn version.

There are shown 6 species of maples in Taiwan.

scientific name

characteristic

No

Acer albopurpurascens Hayata

Whole region of Taiwan
Low-middle mountains, evergreen
Leaves unlobed, coriaceous,

1

Acer buergerianum Miq.
var. formosanum (Hayata) Sasaki

Northern coast of Taiwan
from flat ground to low mountains
Similar to Trident maple, but leaves coriaceous
unlobed or 3lobed

2

Acer kawakamii Koidzumi

Middle mountains
Leaves unlobed or 3 lobed
ovate, acuminate, yellow in fall

3

Acer morrisonense Hayata

Middle mountains of whole region
Leaves usually 5 lobed
with tapering apices, red in fall

4

Acer palmatum Thunb.
var. pubescens H.L.Li

Middle mountains of Northern part & midland
Leaves palmate, 7 lobed
pubescent underside, purple red in fall

5

Acer serrulatum Hayata

Well-known as Qingfeng in Taiwan
Middle mountains of Whole region
Leaves circular, 5 lobed, red in fall

6

Let me make some comments !

Acer albopurpurascens Hayata is well-known in Japan as Kusunoha-kaede, alias Flying Moth tree, Acer oblongum Wallich ex DC., which is distributed widely from Himalaya to Okinawa, Japan. Acer litseaefolium Hayata is also regarded as the same species.

By the way, Zhangyeqi is called Acer coriaceifolium Leveille or Acer cinnamomifolium Hayata in China, and is distinguished from Acer oblongum.

Acer buergerianum Miq. var. formosanum (Hayata) Sasaki is the same group of Acer buergerianum Miq. var. buergerianum, but leaves of the former is more coriaceous and thicker than those of the latter from China judging from the photos.

kawakami-maple, Acer kawakamii Koidzumi is also called Acer caudatifolium Hayata, Acer insulare Makino, Acer morrisonense Hayata, Acer ovatifolium Koidzumi, Acer taiton-montanum Hayata. This maple colors Taiwanese middle class mountains yellow or red in autumn.

In this book, Acer morrisonense Hayata is distinguished from kawakami-maple, Acer kawakamii Koidzumi. This maple colors Taiwanese middle class mountains red in autumn.
I wonder if this maple is the same as Acer rubescens Hayata ?

Acer palmatum Thunb.var. pubescens H.L.Li is the same as Acer duplicatoserratum Hayata, and it colors Taiwanese middle class mountains red in autumn.

Qingfeng, Acer serrulatum Hayata, alias Acer oliverianum ssp. formosanum Murray also colers Taiwanese middle class mountains red in autumn.

I had a wonderful chance to see 6 types of maple-herberium at this Experiment Station.

Let me show you 2 photos to each species.

Acer albopurpurascens Hayata
Flying Moth tree, right : narrow leaves

Acer buergerianum Miq.
var. formosanum (Hayata) Sasaki

Acer morrisonense Hayata
L : flowers, R : fruits

Acer kawakamii Koidzumi
L : unlobed, R : 3 lobed

Acer palmatum Thunb.

Acer palmatum Thunb.
var. pubescens H.L.Li

Acer serrulatum Hayata
L : flowers, R : fruits

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