Gardening Plants & Flowers Trees

25 Popular Japanese Maple Varieties With Great Foliage

Weeping, Dwarf, and Full-Sized Maples for Your Landscape

By
David Beaulieu
David Beaulieu
David Beaulieu

David Beaulieu is a landscaping expert and plant photographer, with 20 years of experience.

Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process
Updated on 04/12/24
Reviewed by
Mary Marlowe Leverette
mary marlowe leverette spruce gardening board
Reviewed by Mary Marlowe Leverette
Mary has been a Master Gardener for 30+ years and a commercial and residential gardener for 50+ years. She is a former Clemson University Extension Agent.
Learn more about The Spruce's Review Board
Japanese maple crimson queen tree with orange leaves on branches hanging across trunks and sunlight

The Spruce / Loren Probish

All types of Japanese maples are prized for their delicate and colorful foliage throughout the growing season and autumn. Although the tree blooms in spring, its foliage offers brilliant red, green, or gold tones that become even more beautiful with the fall color change. For example, ‘Sango Kaku’ is prized as one of the prettiest Japanese maple trees for its changing foliage and bright coral bark for stunning contrast year round.

With over a thousand varieties, mature heights range from 4 to 30 feet, depending on the cultivar. Several dwarf varieties stay small and can be trained as bonsai.

These 25 Japanese maples are all great options, offering foliage ranging from red and yellow to green also featuring different growth habits and tree heights.

Tip

Japanese maples should be planted in full to partial sun and in well-drained soil. In zones 7–8, they can benefit from planting in partial shade or dappled sunlight to protect the leaves from leaf scorch in the summer heat.

  • 01 of 25

    'Bloodgood'

    Japanese maple 'Bloodgood' tree with reddish-purple leaves on branch

    The Spruce / Loren Probish

    'Bloodgood' (Acer palmatum atropurpureum 'Bloodgood') is one of the most popular Japanese maple cultivars. It achieves a maximum size of 20 feet high with a similar spread, making it just the right size for patio landscaping. The leaves are reddish-purple in summer but tend to turn greener in full sun. At fall foliage time, the leaves deepen into crimson red. The word "atropurpureum" in the scientific name refers to a plant with dark reddish-purple foliage.

    • Name: 'Bloodgood' (Acer palmatum atropurpureum 'Bloodgood') 
    • Native Area: Japan, Korea, China
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5–8
    • Height: 15–20 ft.
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
  • 02 of 25

    'Coonara Pygmy'

    Acer palmatum 'Coonara Pygmy'

    UBC Botanical Garden

    This dwarf cultivar grows only about 6 feet high. Bright-green spring leaves develop a yellowish cast in summer and then turn a deep pink-red in fall. The 'Coonara Pygmy' (Acer palmatum 'Coonara Pygmy') was developed from a "witch's broom" deformity found on a Japanese maple growing in Australia.

    • Name: 'Coonara Pygmy' (Acer palmatum 'Coonara Pygmy')
    • Native Area: Japan, Korea, China
    • USDA Growing Zones: 6–9
    • Height: 3–6 ft.
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
  • 03 of 25

    'Crimson Queen'

    Japanese maple 'Crimson Queen' tree branches with weeping lace-like green and bronze colored leaves

    The Spruce / Loren Probish

    'Crimson Queen' (Acer palmatum dissectum 'Crimson Queen') is a small specimen, reaching a height of 8 to 10 feet and a spread of 10 to 12 feet. This petite monarch has a pleasing weeping habit and dissected leaf type. It has dark-red summer leaves that mature to a crimson hue. Fall color is often a combination of yellow, red, purple, and bronze. When you see the word "dissectum" in the scientific name of a Japanese maple, it refers to foliage that's deeply cut with a lacy texture. Such plants are sometimes referred to as "lace leaf" or "thread leaf" maples.

    • Name: 'Crimson Queen' (Acer palmatum dissectum 'Crimson Queen')
    • Native Area: Japan, Korea, China
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5–8
    • Height: 8–10 ft.
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
  • 04 of 25

    'Red Dragon'

    'Red Dragon' with deep red leaves

    Simon McGill / Getty Images

    'Red Dragon' (Acer palmatum dissectum 'Red Dragon') is a small cultivar with striking reddish-purple foliage that transforms into bright crimson in the fall. This tree has an upright, pendulous growth habit and makes a spectacular mounding plant in any landscape. It also works well as a container tree.

    • Name: 'Red Dragon' (Acer palmatum dissectum 'Red Dragon')
    • Native Area: Japan, Korea, China
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5–8
    • Height: 6–8 ft.
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
    Continue to 5 of 25 below
  • 05 of 25

    'Garnet'

    Acer 'Garnet' lace-leaf tree with red leaves

    Sue Taylor / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

    'Garnet' (Acer palmatum dissectum 'Garnet') is another lace-leaf Japanese maple with red leaves. The foliage remains reddish-orange throughout the growing season and then fades to purplish-green in late summer before turning bright red in fall. This cultivar grows to a mature spread of about 9–12 feet.

    • Name: 'Garnet' (Acer palmatum dissectum 'Garnet')
    • Native Area: Japan, Korea, China
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5–8
    • Height: 9–12 ft.
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
  • 06 of 25

    'Full Moon'

    Full Moon Maple with chartreuse leaves

    Piekiełko Szkółka Drzew / Wikimedia Commons

    'Full Moon' or 'Aureum' (Acer shirasawanum 'Aureum') has showy bright-yellow foliage rather than the bright green found in the parent plant. The foliage gradually deepens to yellow-green in summer, and then turns orange-red in fall. It often grows as a multistemmed shrub but can also be trained with a single trunk as a small tree.

    • Name: 'Full Moon' (Acer shirasawanum 'Aureum')
    • Native Area: Japan
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5–7
    • Height: 16–20 ft.
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
  • 07 of 25

    'Autumn Moon'

    Acer 'Autumn Moon' with yellow red and green leaves

    Krzysztof Golik / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

    'Autumn Moon' (Acer shirasawanum 'Autumn Moon') is one of the few Japanese maples that's hardy into the lower portions of USDA hardiness zone 4. It has yellow-orange spring foliage that brightens into chartreuse for summer. It then turns a brilliant reddish-orange in the fall.

    • Name: 'Autumn Moon' (Acer shirasawanum 'Autumn Moon')
    • Native Area: Japan
    • USDA Growing Zones: 4–8
    • Height: 6–10 ft.
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
  • 08 of 25

    'Beni-Kawa'

    Acer 'Beni-kawa' with red and yellow leaves

    Piqsels

    'Beni-Kawa' (Acer palmatum 'Beni-kawa') tops out at about 15 feet and is known for having colorful red bark. Soft, green spring leaves gradually turn yellow-gold through summer and into fall. It grows slowly, remaining under 7 feet high until it's about 10 years old.

    • Name: 'Beni-Kawa' (Acer palmatum 'Beni-kawa')
    • Native Area: Japan, Korea, China
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5–9
    • Height: 12–15 ft.
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
    Continue to 9 of 25 below
  • 09 of 25

    Coral Bark Maple

    'Sango-kaku' with yellow and orange leaves

    David J. Stang / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

    Coral bark maple (Acer palmatum 'Sango-kaku') is a full-size cultivar, growing to 25 feet in height, though it's quite slow-growing. This is another type of Japanese maple with red bark that can provide good winter interest. The leaves are yellow-green when they emerge, deepening into yellow-gold by fall. In the landscape, this tree should be positioned where the attractive winter bark can be appreciated.

    • Name: Coral bark maple (Acer palmatum 'Sango-kaku')
    • Native Area: Japan, Korea, China
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5–8
    • Height: 20–25 ft.
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
  • 10 of 25

    'Filigree'

    Filigree lacey red leaves

    Keith Szafranski / Getty Images

    'Filigree' (Acer palmatum dissectum 'Filigree') is a small cultivar and it has the familiar lacy leaves of others in the dissectum group. The leaves are solid green through summer, turning golden in fall. The branches create a mounded shape with a cascading habit that may droop to the ground.

    • Name: 'Filigree' (Acer palmatum dissectum 'Filigree')
    • Native Area: Japan, Korea, China
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5–8
    • Height: 4–6 ft.
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
  • 11 of 25

    'Butterfly'

    Acer 'Butterfly' with yellow and green leaves

    Henryr10 / Flickr / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

    'Butterfly' (Acer palmatum 'Butterfly') is perhaps the most common of all variegated A. palmatum cultivars. It's a shrubby tree with a rather irregular growth habit, but the green leaves have white margins and are often twisted in a manner, unlike any other Japanese maple. The white portions of the leaves turn magenta or red in the fall. The unusual leaves make this an interesting bonsai plant.

    • Name: 'Butterfly' (Acer palmatum 'Butterfly')
    • Native Area: Japan, Korea, China
    • USDA Growing Zones: 6–8
    • Height: 7–12 ft.
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
  • 12 of 25

    'Peaches and Cream'

    'Peaches and Cream' with green and red leaves

    Robmm21 / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

    'Peaches and Cream' (Acer palmatum 'Peaches and Cream') is a dense, shrubby cultivar that is sometimes wider than it is tall. It has variegated creamy-white leaves with dark green veins. The foliage turns yellow in the fall. It's slow-growing and has been known to live for as long as 60 years.

    • Name: 'Peaches and Cream' (Acer palmatum 'Peaches and Cream')
    • Native Area: Japan, Korea, China
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5b–8
    • Height: 8–10 ft.
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
    Continue to 13 of 25 below
  • 13 of 25

    'First Ghost'

    Acer palmatum 'First Ghost' with bright yellow and red leaves

    Amazing Maples / Flickr

    'First Ghost' (Acer palmatum 'First Ghost') is a relatively small upright tree, topping out at about 7 feet high with a 4-foot spread. In spring, creamy white leaves are tipped with red, featuring prominent dark-green veins running throughout the leaves. In summer, the leaves shift to various shades of green and then turn yellow and orange in fall.

    • Name: 'First Ghost' (Acer palmatum 'First Ghost')
    • Native Area: Japan, Korea, China
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5–8
    • Height: 10–12 ft.
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
  • 14 of 25

    'Geisha Gone Wild'

    Acer palmatum 'Geisha Gone Wild' with bright red leaves

    Gardenia.net

    'Geisha Gone Wild' (Acer palmatum 'Geisha Gone Wild') is a sport of the popular 'Geisha' cultivar, one of the most spectacular of all variegated Japanese maples. 'Geisha Gone Wild' is a larger, hardier plant than 'Geisha.' In spring, the new leaves are hot pink and then age to green with flecks of white and pink in summer. They change to spectacular orange in the fall. It's a slow grower, reaching 7 feet high in about 10 years (roughly 1 foot higher than 'Geisha').

    • Name: 'Geisha Gone Wild' (Acer palmatum 'Geisha Gone Wild')
    • Native Area: Japan, Korea, China
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5–8
    • Height: 5–7 ft.
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
  • 15 of 25

    Emperor 1

    Acer palmatum 'Wolff' with dark red leaves

    F.D. Richards / flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

    Emperor 1 (Acer palmatum 'Wolff') looks much like a 'Bloodgood' Japanese maple variety, but it's shorter and grows upright. It's a hardy variety, leafing out later in the spring than other Japanese maple trees. It has black-red bark with dark red foliage that turns scarlet red in autumn. Its leaves have a translucent quality with deeply incised toothed edges. It rarely suffers from pest damage. It grows 1 to 2 feet per year, capable of growing up to 15 feet at maturity.

    • Name: Emperor 1 (Acer palmatum 'Wolff')
    • Native Area: Japan, Korea, China
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5–9
    • Height: 10-15 ft.
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
  • 16 of 25

    'Green Cascade'

    Acer Japonicum 'Green Cascade with deep orange leaves

    James Steakley / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

    'Green Cascade' is an Acer japonicum Japanese maple variety or upright full moon maple small tree or multiple-trunk shrub that grows in zones 5 to 7. It is slightly more tolerant to cold than Acer palmatum and does not like hot southern summers. This tree prefers dappled shade and is prone to leaf scorch in full sun. Its leaves are rounded, palmate (like hands), and fern-like. The leaves turn yellow and red in the fall.

    • Name: Green Cascade (Acer japonicum 'Green Cascade')
    • Native Area: Japan, Korea, China
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5–7
    • Height: 10-20 ft.
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
    Continue to 17 of 25 below
  • 17 of 25

    'Higasayama'

    higasayama japanese maple acer palmatum leaves

    The Spruce / Peter Krumhardt

    The 'Higasayama' (Acer palmatum 'Higasayama') maple's leaves are beautiful from spring to fall. Its big claim to fame is its spring coloration. Its variegated coloration in the spring ranges from bright green, bright pink, creamy pink, and creamy ivory colors. In the fall, it turns orange and red. It grows upright and is a faster grower, usually growing 1 foot per year. For best coloration, place it in a dappled or filtered light location. This is one of the best Japanese maples for full sun, although too much sun will lessen its variegation in the summer.

    • Name: 'Higasayama' (Acer palmatum 'Higasayama')
    • Native Area: Japan, Korea, China
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5–8
    • Height: 10-18 ft.
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
  • 18 of 25

    'Hogyoku'

    hogyoku japanese maple leaves yellow and green

    The Spruce / Peter Krumhardt

    'Hogyoku,' meaning "jewel," is also called the 'Golden Jewel of Fall' Acer palmatum Japanese maple variety. What makes this tree unique is its bright orange color in the fall. It's beautiful all season, starting with green leaves that are tinged with yellow, orange, and red. This Japanese maple variety can handle full sun better than other Japanese maples. Each palm-like leaf has seven serrated lobes. Keep this tree's soil moist, or use mulch around the base to prevent leaf scorch if it sits in full sun.

    • Name: 'Hogyoku' (Acer palmatum 'Golden Jewel of Fall')
    • Native Area: Japan, Korea, China
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5–9
    • Height: 15-18 ft.
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
  • 19 of 25

    'Koto Ito Komachi'

    acer palmatum koto ito komachi with bright orange leaves

    UBC Botanical Garden

    The A. palmatum cultivar, 'Koto Ito Komachi', is a miniature tree that grows upright, but its string-like leaves make it feel like a weeping willow variety. It's a short, rounded tree, only about 4-6 feet tall. It grows slowly and prefers partial shade. It can grow in full sun but needs moist soil to prevent its leaves from shriveling. Its leaves start as light green, turning greener over time, and then in fall, it displays yellow and orange foliage. As it naturally has a dwarf growth habit, it can be trained as a bonsai.

    • Name: 'Koto Ito Komachi' (Acer palmatum 'Koto Ito Komachi')
    • Native Area: Japan, Korea, China
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5–9
    • Height: 4-6 ft.
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
  • 20 of 25

    'Lion's Mane'

    Bonsai Acer palmatum Shishigashirain a small pot

    ivanoel28 / Getty Images

    This tree's naturally wrinkled or crinkled leaves make A. palmatum 'Shishigashira' or 'Lion's Mane' unique. This tree gives texture to any lawn with its curled, glossy green leaves that turn yellow, orange, and reddish in the fall. This shorter tree has dense branches, usually growing about 8 feet, although it can get taller. It is hardy in zones 6 to 9.

    • Name: 'Lion's Mane' (Acer palmatum 'Shishigashira')
    • Native Area: Japan, Korea, China
    • USDA Growing Zones: 6-9
    • Height: 8-12 ft.
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
    Continue to 21 of 25 below
  • 21 of 25

    'Osakazuki'

    Acer palmatum 'Osakazuki with deep red leaves
    Acer Palmatum

    Jean-Pol GRANDMONT / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0

    The 'Osakazuki' (Acer palmatum 'Osakazuki') cultivar features intensely bright orange-red leaves in the fall. Each leaf is palmate or hand-like, but instead of five fingers, these leaves feature seven lobes or fingers with teeth-like edges. This tree has a rounded growth habit. It can be sited in full sun, resisting leaf scorch better than other Japanese maple varieties, but its coloration will be better if it's in a partial sun location. It can adapt to clay and sandy soils.

    • Name: Osakazuki (Acer palmatum 'Osakazuki')
    • Native Area: Japan, Korea
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5-8
    • Height: Up to 25 ft.
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
  • 22 of 25

    'Scolopendrifolium'

    Acer palmatum Scolopendrifolium with bright red leaves

    Steven Severinghaus / flickr / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

    'Scolopendrifolium' (Acer palmatum 'Scolopendrifolium') is also called 'Shinobuga Oka' or 'Linearilobum', featuring long, narrow string-like green leaves with bright red stems, seed pods, and blossoms. It's sometimes called strap leaf maple for its whispy strip-like leaves with five pointy-tipped or sword-like edges. Its leaves turn shades of yellow, orange, and red in the fall. It grows slowly and has about a 60-year lifespan.

    • Name: 'Scolopendrifolium' (Acer palmatum 'Scolopendrifolium')
    • Native Area: Japan, Korea, China
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5-9
    • Height: 12-15 ft. ft.
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
  • 23 of 25

    'Seiryu'

    Acer palmatum Seiryu with orange and red lacey leaves

    Kirill Ignatyev / flickr / CC BY-NC 2.0

    'Seiryu' (Acer palmatum 'Seiryu'), meaning "blue-green dragons," is a green lace-leaf maple or dissectum maple with feathery leaves. Unlike other maples with lacey leaves, it grows upright and not weeping. It's a fast grower, usually growing about 10 feet tall, although it can grow up to 20 feet. It's prone to leaf damage if located in a full sun spot. Its foliage is bright green in spring and summer, turning golden yellow and red in the fall.

    • Name: 'Seiryu' (Acer palmatum 'Seiryu') 
    • Native Area: Japan, Korea, China
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5-9
    • Height: 10-20 ft. ft.
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
  • 24 of 25

    'Usugumo'

    Acer palmatum 'Mono usugumo' with muted yellow leaves

    Ed Jansen / flickr

    'Usugumo' (Acer pictum 'Usugumo') is a rare painted leaf batwing Japanese maple. It emerges in spring with soft pink leaves with green and cream-colored mottling or speckling in the summer. It never grows taller than about seven feet. This slow-growing upright tree does best in zones 5 to 9 and is perfect for a small space or container.

    • Name: 'Usugumo' (Acer pictum 'Usugumo')
    • Native Area: Japan, Korea, China
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5-9
    • Height: Up to 7 ft.
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
    Continue to 25 of 25 below
  • 25 of 25

    'Viridis'

    Acer palmatum Viridis with this red leaves

    Mark Bolin / flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

    'Viridis' (Acer palmatum 'Viridis') has a weeping or cascading form with vivid green, finely cut lacey leaves that change to gold and crimson in the fall. This dwarf cultivar prefers dappled sun and can grow in a container, reaching 6 to 10 feet tall. You can train it to stay about 4 feet tall. Its leaves have deep lobes or finger-like projections with serrated edges.

    • Name: 'Viridis' (Acer palmatum 'Viridis')
    • Native Area: Japan, Korea, China
    • USDA Growing Zones: 5-8
    • Height: 6-10 ft.
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
How to Grow and Care for Japanese Maple Trees