Shirasawa's maple
fullmoon maple
acer shirasawanum latin

Acer shirasawanum (also called Shirasawa's Maple)

Fullmoon Maple is a name that has been used for two different but closely related maples from Japan:

It belongs to the Palmatum group of maple trees native to East Asia with its closest relatives being the Acer japonicum (Fullmoon Maple) and Acer pseudosieboldianum (Korean Maple).

"Momijigari: The Japanese Autumn Garden," a vibrant exhibition of Japanese autumnal plants, is on view through Nov. 25 at the New York Botanical Garden, with a wide variety of Japanese and fullmoon maples in the courtyard of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory.

The aceretum was founded in the early 1970s, anchored by a giant specimen of Acer shirasawanum that was already about one century old.

Acer shirasawanum (also called Shirasawa's Maple)

Another contains an overstory of Acer x freemanii with an understory of shade-loving maples, including snakebark maples (Acer davidii and Acer tegmentosum) and small trees similar to the Japanese maple, such as Acer shirasawanum and Acer pseudosieboldianum.