Acer palmatum 'Higasayama'

Acer palmatum 'Higasayama'

	The white striped leaves in spring fade to green by mid summer. Promises scarlet autumn colour, but hasn't yet produced it. This is as close as it has come to scarlet so far. During mid summer, the white markings in the leaves have intensified. Introduced from Japan before 1882. Gordon Harris says: "An attractive clone with foliage that changes so often through the seasons that it is not easy to give a short description. The unfolding buds in spring are bright yellow with long crimsom sheaths giving the plant a remarkable two toned effect. When the leaves develop they are green with pinkish white markings. The depth of green changes with the season being a pale green which darkens as summer come on and then in autumn the margins of the leaves turn yellow and crinson. This is a hardy plant." Mr Maple says: "'Higasayama' is an amazing, upright variegated Japanese maple that is very vigorous. This is a very old Japanese cultivar that is under-used in the modern landscape. From our best interpretation, the name 'Higasa' refers to a Japanese umbrella, while 'yama' means mountain. 'Higasayama' has one of the most sensational spring shows with buds that unfurl in dramatic fashion. This tree really pops as the buds open up to reveal amazing shapes and colors. The leaf has a heavy green vein outlined by whites and accented by a hot pink edging. The fall colors are oranges to red. 'Higasayama' is a very fast grower with almost 1 foot of growth per year after getting established. The shape is very dense and narrow with low branching close to the ground. The height can reach up to 18 ft over time. 'Higasayama' grows well in filtered light and can handle full sun but you will notice more greening late in the summer. Typically trees from the greenhouse will be greener than ones leafing outside in the ground but this one doesn’t revert and will show more variegation. This is an amazing tree that jumps out of the landscape with bright colors and has a perfect shape for a specimen tree. The spring show is second to none. "
4th June 2006

Trees and Shrubs online says:

"Leaves divided into seven deeply and coarsely toothed, elongated and long-tapered lobes, the margins white interrupted by green bands along most of the lateral veins. An old cultivar, sometimes wrongly known as ‘Roseomarginatum’ (the white edging is pink-tinged when the leaves are young). For the true ‘Roseomarginatum’ see ‘Kagiri Nishiki’ (Vertr., p. 108)."


24th November 2006	5th December 2018	25th April 2020

References:

Junker, Karan - 'A Plant for all seasons', Journal of the RHS, Vol.123 , No.10 , p.720 (1998).

Harris, Gordon - 'Japanese Maples', The Plantsman, Vol.3 , No.4 (1982).

James Armitage, Dawn Edwards, Neil Lancaster, John G. Hillier and Roy Lancaster (eds), The Hillier Manual of Trees and Shrubs, 8th edition, 2014.

J. D. Vertrees and Peter Gregory, Japanese Maples, Timber Press , 1978.

Trees and Shrubs online, https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/acer/acer-palmatum/ , accessed 11.10.2026.

Mr Maple, https://mrmaple.com/products/buy-acer-palmatum-higasayama-japanese-maple-1?srsltid=AU7gw4W6eZkIx-K6g7a4-u9Ry8ZuK4_ZgMToWal6NA9phEsSo2SW6ab2 , accessed 11.10.2026.