Acer carpinifolium
Common name: 
Hornbeam Maple
Pronunciation: 
A-ser car-PIN-i-fo-le-um
Family: 
Sapindaceae, Aceraceae
Genus: 
Acer
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Broadleaf deciduous tree, more often a large shrub, to about 30 ft (10 m) tall, densely branched, rounded form.  Bark smooth and dark gray.  Leaves simple, opposite, ovate-oblong, atypical for a maple since they resemble the leaves of a Carpinus, Hornbeam, 8-12 cm long and 4-5 cm wide, unlobed, margin double serrate; fall color bright yellow or brown.  Flowers greenish, about 1 cm across, in slender clusters, dioecious - male and female flowers on separate plants.  Fruit with spreading wings, at a right or obtuse angle, about 3 cm across.
  • Part shade, moist soil
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 5    Native to Japan, were it is widely distributed
  • carpinifolium: from Latin carpinus, Hornbeam, and folium, leaf; i.e., a leaf resembling that of a Carpinus.
  • Portland, Oregon: Hoyt Arboretum
Click image to enlarge
  • young leaves

    young leaves

  • plant habit, summer

    plant habit, summer

  • leafy shoots and fruit clusters

    leafy shoots and fruit clusters

  • leaves and fruit clusters

    leaves and fruit clusters

  • leaves and fruit clusters, fall

    leaves and fruit clusters, fall

  • trunk, bark

    trunk, bark