Side by side
Japanese maple or silver maple? How to tell them apart
Acer palmatum · Acer saccharinum
How to tell them apart – Japanese maple: small, graceful maple with deeply cut, palmate leaves, often red; silver maple: a large tree with silvery leaf undersides.
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How do you recognise them?
- Japanese maple
- Small, graceful maple with deeply cut, palmate leaves, often red.
- Silver maple
- Deeply cut maple leaf with a silvery-white underside.
- Compared with Japanese maple: a large tree with silvery leaf undersides.
| Japanese maple | Silver maple | |
|---|---|---|
| Leaves | Opposite, 5–10 cm, with 5–9 pointed, toothed lobes; green or red, superb autumn colour. | Opposite, 10–15 cm, with 5 very deeply cut, finely toothed lobes; underside silvery white. No milky sap. |
| Flowering | Small reddish-purple flowers in May (April–May). | Small red flowers, as early as February–March (February–March). |
| Fruit | Small winged nutlets. | Large winged fruits that ripen as early as late spring. |
| Bark | Smooth, grey or green; young shoots sometimes red. | Silver-grey, later in long, loose flakes. |
| Shape and height | Shrub, 2–8 m | Broadleaf tree, 20–30 m |
| Site | Partial shade, acid soil, normal | Full sun, any garden soil, moist to wet |
| Native to Belgium | No, planted | No, planted |
| Good for bees, butterflies and birds | Little | Yes, for bees |
| Poisonous to people and pets | Not known to be poisonous | Not known to be poisonous |
| Pruning months | July–August and November–December | July–October |
What does it mean for your garden?
- Silver maple grows 20–30 m tall: too big for an ordinary garden, but fine in a large garden, a park or a meadow.
Read on
- Plant profile: Japanese maple
- Plant profile: Silver maple
- Japanese maple: when and how to prune
- Silver maple: when and how to prune
- Identification key: the question that separates them
Also looks like
Identify by feature
This comparison is compiled from the Bladwijzer species pages.