Acer x freemanii A.E.Murray
Freeman's maple (A cultivar known as DTR-102)
The tree tag number relates to the black tree-maintenance tags, usually fixed on the trunk, 2 to 3m above ground level.
Acer x freemanii is a hybrid between A. rubrum and A. saccharinum, both parents being North American natives. The original tree was selected and registered by Willet Wandell in central Illinois. It makes a substantial tree up to 20m high, a narrow shape when young as in the Belfast Botanic Gardens, but more spreading as it ages. There are a number of different versions of this hybridisation – other variations are ‘Autumn Blaze’, ‘Celebration’, ‘Morgan’ and ‘Marmo’. These vary in final height, leaf shape and growth form. All have deeply cut leaves turning red or orange-red in autumn, small red flowers in spring and reddish young stems.
Photos taken in Belfast Botanic Gardens in 2015 and 2016. Copyright: Friends of Belfast Botanic