Acer truncatum

Acer truncatum, the Shantung or Purpleblow maple, is a tough, tidy small tree from northern China and Korea, where the straight base of the leaf, truncate rather than heart-shaped, hands the species a botanical name. Glossy leaves emerge with a reddish purple flush in spring, mature to deep green, and close the year in shades of yellow, orange, red, and sometimes purple. Clusters of bright yellow flowers open with the new leaves in May, an uncommon sight among maples and one reason gardeners seek the tree out.

In northern China the Shantung maple is more than ornamental. The seeds yield an edible oil, rich in nervonic acid, long pressed for cooking and for lamp fuel, and the tree turns up in old plantings around temples and villages, where the name yuanbao, after an ingot-shaped coin, nods to the shape of the winged seeds. That heritage of usefulness sits easily beside the modern appeal of a maple that simply behaves.

Reaching twenty to twenty-five feet tall and a touch less in width, with a dense, rounded crown, the Shantung maple is built for hard places: city streets, parking islands, hot lawns, and dry banks. Heat and drought tolerant once settled, resistant to the leaf scorch that troubles other maples, and untroubled by acid or alkaline soil, the tree casts dependable shade at a manageable scale. Set these maples where the spring gold and the autumn fire can both be seen, and pair with low evergreens and grasses that will not crowd the tidy frame. A long-time favorite for bonsai as well.