Plant: Butterfly - Japanese Maple
Japanese Maple · Acer palmatum 'Butterfly'
Size: 5 gal
Light
Bloom
Mature size
More about this plant
Butterfly is a variegated Japanese maple of stiff upright growth that forms a dense large shrub or small tree, typically 7 to 12 feet tall. Its palmate, five lobed, deeply divided leaves reach about 3 inches long and are gray green with creamy white margins that are often edged pink in spring; in fall the white portions turn scarlet to magenta. It is slow growing and shrub like, preferring sun to mostly shade with even moisture in a moist, well drained soil. The fine variegated foliage makes it an accent or specimen for a bed, a container or a small shaded space.
- Part Shade
- Grows to 12 ft tall and 10 ft wide
- Blooms in spring
- Hardy in USDA zones 5-8
- Deciduous foliage
Plant description
Butterfly is a variegated Japanese maple of stiff upright growth that forms a dense large shrub or small tree, typically 7 to 12 feet tall. Its palmate, five lobed, deeply divided leaves reach about 3 inches long and are gray green with creamy white margins that are often edged pink in spring; in fall the white portions turn scarlet to magenta. It is slow growing and shrub like, preferring sun to mostly shade with even moisture in a moist, well drained soil. The fine variegated foliage makes it an accent or specimen for a bed, a container or a small shaded space.
- Flowers
- Small red to purple flowers appear in spring; attractive viewed closely but insignificant from a distance.
- Foliage
- Palmate, five lobed, deeply divided leaves to 3 inches long, gray green with creamy white margins often edged pink in spring; the white portions turn scarlet to magenta in fall.
- Fruit
- A schizocarp of two samaras with incurved wings forming an arch, becoming reddish in fall.
- Bark & stems
- Young stems vary from green to polished reddish brown; older branches assume a gray cast.
- Light
- Dappled/Filtered Light
- Native range
- Japan, China, Korea, eastern Mongolia and southeastern Russia
