Acer rufinerve - Maple

The Acer rufinerve, or grey-barked Snakebark maple, is a small Japanese tree with spectacular greenish-white striped bark. In autumn, its trilobed leaves turn a fiery orange-red. It thrives in the understorey or shrub layer, in the shade of larger trees, in an acid to neutral soil, well-drained but remaining moist, and protected from cold winds.

The Vine-leaf maple, as it is also called, belongs to the botanical Sapindaceae family (which has incorporated the former maple family, Aceraceae). This species, native to high-altitude forests in Japan, is part of the group of Snakebark maples, which have an incredible, stylised striped bark, like Acer davidii and Acer capillipes. With Acer rufinerve, the stripes are grey-white on an apple green trunk, marked with diamond-shaped spots (the lenticels). The effect tends to fade with age, giving way to a beautiful mahogany - but don't worry, you'll still enjoy it for 20 to 25 years!

The leaves of this maple, with their textured appearance, are soft green and have three lobes ending in a large point. In autumn, they take on sumptuous orange and red hues (sometimes even violet, depending on the year), which literally set the garden ablaze. The discreet, yellow-green flowering occurs in April, giving rise to winged fruits ("helicopters") in decorative clusters. Slim at first, then slightly wider with age, the tree can either be trained on a single trunk, or on multiple trunks, magnifying the remarkable visual effect of the bark. It is fairly slow-growing in the first few years, but it can eventually reach 8 to 10 m (26 ft  to 33 ft) in height and 4 to 7 m (13 ft to 23 ft) in spread.

Although very hardy, Acer rufinerve does have a few requirements that should be respected if it is to develop successfully. In its natural habitat, it is a sub-canopy tree, meaning it grows under larger trees. Therefore, it requires partial to full shade, protected from harsh direct sunlight as well as from cold winds, which it dislikes. Give it deep, loose, humus-rich soil, acidic to neutral (but not chalky), well-drained but remaining moist. In heavy soil, Snakebark maples are often susceptible to verticillium wilt, a fungal disease that clogs vessels and causes branch dieback. Add a generous amount of well-rotted compost to the surface, or a free-draining element such as horticultural grit to the bottom of the hole if your soil is not light enough.

Reserve a special place for this maple where you can admire its bark even in winter, preferably visible from the house. Combine it with other trees with interesting bark like Cinnamon maple, Prunus maackii, Betula albosinensis 'Fascination', or near bamboos like Fargesia 'Blue Dragon'. Grow Japanes plants around it like Japanese grass (Hakonechloa macra), Fatsia japonica 'Spider Web', or  Athyrium niponicum 'Pictum' painted ferns for a striking, stylised look.