Acer coriaceifolium
Chinese Evergreen Maple
- Type
- Tree
- Hardiness
- USDA Zones 8–9
- Sun
- Full Sun, Part Shade
- Soil
- Well-drained, Moist
- Mature size
- Height 15–30 Feet · Spread 12–20 Feet
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Seasonality
- Evergreen
This variety is no actively in production in our propagation house and may not return to our catalogue. We maintain this page purely for reference and archival purposes. If you would like to grow this plant, tell us. Your interest helps guide what we bring back.
For a larger installation or commercial project, write hello@woodlanders.net.
Acer coriaceifolium is a very rare evergreen maple, and few people would recognize the plant as a maple at all: the leaves are leathery and entire, broadly oval to lanceolate, dark and glossy above, pale and felted beneath, with none of the lobing the genus is known for. Sometimes listed as Acer cinnamomifolium, this maple is native to the mountain forests of southern and central China, where the species grows as a small tree at middle elevations.
We obtained this tree from Heronswood Nursery, who apparently introduced the species to North America, and Acer coriaceifolium has grown well for us here, promising to be a useful evergreen for the South. In cultivation these maples tend to stay modest, often a large shrub or small tree, holding their handsome foliage through the year where winters are mild.
The garden value of the Chinese evergreen maple is the year-round presence of that leathery, cinnamon-backed foliage, a quiet evergreen anchor for a sheltered border or a courtyard in zones 8 and 9. Give the tree a protected spot with good drainage and even moisture, and use the plant where an unexpected, unmaple-like evergreen will reward a second look.
small yellow-green flowers in spring