Acer palmatum Mystic Jewel - Japanese Maple

Acer palmatum 'Mystic Jewel' is a new variety of Japanese maple with unique colouration. Its lobed leaves transition from purple-violet to green washed with a strange and enticing blend of mauve-grey-silver before turning fiery red in autumn. It boasts an elegant silhouette supported by slightly trailing branches. This medium-sized variety will easily find its place in a small garden, in humus-rich and moist soil. Placed in a carefully chosen large pot, this charming and beautifully coloured shrub will become the focal point of a terrace, in partial shade.

Originally from eastern China, Korea, and Japan, Acer palmatum is the origin of a multitude of horticultural varieties that compete in beauty. Japanese maple belongs, like all maples, to the Sapindaceae family (formerly Aceraceae). It is relatively hardy but cannot tolerate dry and cold winds and excess limestone in the soil.

The 'Mystic Jewel' cultivar (SKACER19MYJUB) was recently selected in the Netherlands. It grows rather slowly and over time develops a bushy and upright habit with a rounded crown. At maturity, it will reach an average height of 1.4m (5ft) and a spread of 1m (3ft) in the ground, slightly less if grown in a pot. This small tree has palm-shaped leaves, divided into 3 to 5 dentate lobes, carried by purple-mauve petioles. Its spring foliage is tinted dark purple, and will turn almond green with a smoky grey-purple hue in summer, before taking on brilliant autumnal colours. This foliage is deciduous and falls in autumn. The discreet flowering, often hidden by the foliage, occurs in May-June. The flowers, grouped in small clusters, sometimes produce fruits with curved wings called samaras, measuring 3cm (1in) long.

Acer palmatum 'Mystic Jewel' thrives in preferably non-limestone, moist, fertile, loose, and well-drained soil, in partial shade or morning sun, but must be sheltered from cold and dry winds. Compact yet sculptural and colourful, it is well suited to small Japanese, exotic, or contemporary gardens, as well as for ornamenting terraces and patios, and shaded rock gardens. Azaleas, heathers, dwarf rhododendrons, field camellias, and heathers will be its most beautiful companions. It can be shaped into a magnificent bonsai in the 'Chokkan' style (upright trunk), 'Yose-Ue' style (forest bonsai), or 'Bonkei' style (landscape on a plateau). Mix several varieties of Japanese maple to vary the colours and foliage structures, and plant evergreen ground cover plants at their base; the effect is always stunning at the end of the season.