Maple - Maple

Japanese: カエデ(楓) - カエデ

A general term for the maple genus of the maple family, said to have been named after the shape of the leaves, which resemble a frog's hand. A deciduous, rarely evergreen, tall tree with opposite leaves, often simple and palmately lobed, or palmately compound with 3-5 leaflets. Many turn beautiful red in autumn. Monoecious or heteroecious, they produce small racemes or corymbs of flowers in spring. They have two styles and 4-10 stamens, but most have 8. The fruits have two wings and a unique shape. They are distributed mainly in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere, with about 160 species. About 26 species grow wild in Japan, and there are several hundred horticultural varieties. Japanese maple (also called Japanese maple), which is widely distributed in the mountainous regions of Japan and is the most commonly planted, has small, palmately lobed 5-7 lobes, pointed lobes, double serrated edges, and hairless mature leaves. In April and May, corymbs appear at the tips of young branches at the same time as young leaves, and small dark red flowers hang down. There are five sepals and five petals. The fruits are small. The Japanese maple is similar to the Japanese maple, but its leaves are large, palmately divided into 7 to 9 lobes, and have fine, regular, simple sawtooth edges. The flowers and fruits are also slightly larger, and they grow wild in the mountains from Hokkaido to Kyushu. The Japanese maple is a variety of the Japanese maple, and grows mainly in the mountains along the Sea of Japan, with double sawtooth edges on the leaves. The Japanese maple, which grows in the mountains from Hokkaido to Honshu, has even larger leaves, divided into 9 to 13 lobes, and initially has white hairs. Maples have been planted in gardens since ancient times, and many horticultural varieties were created during the Edo period. Most of the maples currently planted, such as Nomura, Shimenouchi, and Tamukeyama (crepe maple), are Japanese maples or their variants. Maple sap contains sucrose, and maple syrup is made from North American sugar maples. Note that maple was formerly a general term for trees that change color in autumn, but because maples, especially Japanese maples, change color dramatically in autumn, the term has come to refer primarily to maples.

Source : Heibonsha Encyclopedia About MyPedia Information

Japanese:

カエデ科カエデ属の総称で，葉の形がカエルの手に似るところから名付けられたといわれる。落葉まれに常緑の高木で，葉は対生し，単葉で掌状に裂けるものが多く，または３〜５小葉の掌状複葉。秋に美しく紅葉するものが多い。雌雄同株または異株で，春，総状〜散房状の小花をつける。花柱は２本，おしべは４〜10本であるが，多くは８本。果実は２枚の翅があり，独特の形をなす。主として北半球の温帯に分布し，約160種。日本には26種ほどが自生し，数百の園芸品種がある。日本の山地に広く分布し，最も普通に植えられるイロハモミジ（イロハカエデとも）は，葉が小型で掌状に５〜７裂し，裂片の先はとがり，縁には重鋸歯(きょし)があり成葉には毛がない。４〜５月，若葉と同時に若枝の先に散房花序を出し，暗紅色の小花がたれ下がる。萼片，花弁ともに５枚。果実は小さい。オオモミジはイロハモミジに似ているが，葉は大きく，掌状に７〜９裂し，縁には細かく規則的な単鋸歯がある。花や果実もやや大きく，北海道〜九州の山地に自生する。ヤマモミジはオオモミジの変種で，主として日本海側山地にはえ，葉の縁には重鋸歯がある。北海道〜本州の山地にはえるハウチワカエデは，葉がさらに大型，９〜13中裂し，初めは白毛がある。カエデ類は古くから庭園に植えられ，江戸時代に多くの園芸品種が作られた。現在植栽される〈野村〉〈占(しめ)の内〉〈手向山(たむけやま)（縮緬(ちりめん)楓）〉などの大部分はイロハモミジやその変種からできたもの。カエデ類の樹液はショ糖を含み，特に北米のサトウカエデからはメープル・シロップをとる。なお，モミジは紅葉するものの総称であったが，カエデ類，特にイロハカエデで紅葉が著しいため，おもにカエデ類をさすようになった。

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