Acer palmatum Bi Hoo - Japanese Maple

Acer palmatum Bi Hoo', also known as Acer palmatum 'Bi Hō', is a variety of recent introduction, popular for its beautifully coloured wood that brightens shaded corners throughout the winter. It is a small tree with an upright habit, and dense, ramified branches. It has palmate foliage, which is highly coloured, starting with yellow-green and salmon-pink tones before turning lighte green in summer and orange-yellow in autumn. This variety is ornamental in all seasons and is suitable for small gardens and shady locations. It thrives in partial shade and in moist, well-drained, acidic soil, which enhances its vibrant and contrasting colours.

Acer palmatum is native to eastern China, Korea, and Japan. It belongs to the Sapindaceae family. This cultivar stands out for its thin branches with yellow-orange, apricot, or salmon-pink bark in winter. It is a hardy, slow-growing small tree with an upright and rounded habit, developing a thin and short trunk with dense and ramified branches. After 20 years, it can reach a height of 3 m (9.8 ft) with a spread of about 2 m (6.6 ft), depending on the growing conditions. Its deciduous foliage consists of deeply dissected palmate leaves with 5 lanceolate lobes, finely cut and strongly dentate along the edges. The flowers, grouped in small clusters, are insignificant in April, but the fruits with curved wings are interesting from September onwards. Before falling in autumn, the foliage takes on beautiful orange-yellow hues.

Acer palmatum 'Bi Hoo' works well as a standalone specimen on a shaded lawn or in ericaceous beds alongside azaleas, pieris, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, and heathers. It can also be trained into a beautiful bonsai in a flat dish. Despite its delicate appearance, this small tree is robust, as evidenced by some specimens grown in large pots with minimal care for many years. It only requires a light, well-drained soil that is not too poor, preferably acidic to neutral, and occasional watering during dry spells. Diseases like Verticillium (caused by a fungus) are more likely to develop in constantly moist substrates than in intermittently dry ones. It should be noted that this variety performs well in hot climates if the tree is placed away from direct sunlight and sheltered from the wind.