Acer davidii Fanch. Père David's Maple Named after the French missionary who discovered this tree in its native China. Now a rather confused species since it has several forms and has often been wrongly labelled and confounded with other snake-bark maples. It is thought that there are at least 4 types in cultivation, 2 of which are:
A. davidii 'George Forrest'. A narrow open tree, 14m (48ft). Young shoots are purple or dark red, and leaves are flat, larger and broader than other types with little autumn colour.
A. davidii 'Ernest Wilson' is smaller, with a more rounded habit narrower leaves which are folded along the middle. They colour orange in autumn.
Flowers open in May, in spikes about 7.5-10cm (3-4in) long. Those shown are from the Wilson type. Keys have wings 2.5-3.7cm (1-1½in) long. This specimen is of the Forrest type. Bark is green with white stripes. Z6.