This is one of a series of short articles about trees in the Belfast Botanic Gardens compiled by the Friends group. The tree tag number relates to the small aluminium discs, usually fixed on the tree trunk, 2 to 3m above ground level.
This very rare maple is another example of the genus in the
maple collection in Belfast Botanic Gardens. It is a small, slow-growing tree
from Northern China and Korea with distinctive leaves divided into three separate
leaflets and pale grey-brown flaking bark. Like
Acer
maximowiczii which is close to it in the Botanic Gardens, it usually
has spectacular autumn colour. The flowers are in threes, hence the species
name. It was introduced in 1923, but rarely seen outside of arboreta and Botanic
Gardens. Mature examples are in the Arnold Arboretum in Boston. RHS award
of garden merit. The Belfast Botanic Gardens example is near the path from
the Botanic School gate to the Palm House. Unfortunately this tree was in the path of a fallen oak in 2021 and was removed in the clean-up. We hope a replacement for this attractive tree can be found.
