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Acer carpinifolium
The unique hornbeam-leafed maple, Acer carpinifolium (Sapindaceae), is a rarely grown Japanese species.
For the majority of people, the most familiar maple leaf shape is one that is palmately lobed (as with the stylized sugar maple, Acer saccharum, on the Canadian flag). Not all maples exhibit this leaf shape, but all species, except Acer carpinifolium, display actinodromous venation (three or more primary veins diverging radially from a single point). Note the single primary vein (pinnate venation) of Acer carpinifolium. The distincitve winged Acer fruit (samara) is not much help in identifying this plant as a maple, as the species is dioecious and this plant is male.
