Acer palmatum 'Chitose Yama' (Japanese Maple)

Chitose Yama is a distinctive Acer palmatum cultivar prized for its deep burgundy-red palmate foliage on an upright tree-form frame, intensifying to vivid scarlet-crimson in fall. It carries the refined four-season presence Japanese maples are loved for, with delicate spring leaf-out, a graceful summer canopy, and signature autumn fire.

Acer palmatum is a long-lived small tree from the woodlands of Japan, Korea, and China, bred over centuries into hundreds of cultivars. Tiny purple-red flowers appear in mid-spring before or with the leaves, followed by paired samaras that spin to the ground in fall and feed songbirds and small mammals. Mature specimens often live fifty to a hundred years and become the heart of the gardens they anchor.

In the Pacific Northwest, give this Japanese maple humus-rich, well-drained, slightly acidic soil and part shade to gentle full sun. The cool maritime climate suits Acer palmatum beautifully, though afternoon shade keeps leaf color and margins crisp through summer heat waves. Sterilize pruning tools to avoid spreading Verticillium wilt, and watch for tip dieback (Pseudomonas) in cool wet springs. Mature trees are largely deer-resistant; protect young specimens with a temporary cage.

If you'd like a Pacific Northwest native maple with the same understory grace, consider Acer circinatum (Vine Maple), Oregon's classic woodland-edge maple with brilliant fall color and deep ecological value. Acer macrophyllum (Bigleaf Maple) is the keystone PNW broadleaf maple for larger sites.