© The Dabney Nursery
Plant: Moonfire - Japanese Maple
Japanese Maple · Acer palmatum 'Moonfire'
Size: 15 gal
Light
Bloom
Mature size
More about this plant
Moonfire is an upright red Japanese maple with very dark red to black bark and branches that curve and twist upward, reaching roughly 15 to 20 feet tall and 14 to 20 feet wide. Its opalescent leaves are dark purple red, almost black red, with a faint blue overtone in diffused sunlight, and they hold that colour extremely well through hot summer months before turning bright crimson in fall. It is smaller and slower growing than Bloodgood and is reputed to be the better selection for the long hot summers of the South. Introduced by Richard Wolff of Pennsylvania in 1970, it makes a striking specimen or small shade tree.
- Part Shade
- Grows to 20 ft tall and 20 ft wide
- Blooms in spring
- Hardy in USDA zones 5-8
- Deciduous foliage
Plant description
Moonfire is an upright red Japanese maple with very dark red to black bark and branches that curve and twist upward, reaching roughly 15 to 20 feet tall and 14 to 20 feet wide. Its opalescent leaves are dark purple red, almost black red, with a faint blue overtone in diffused sunlight, and they hold that colour extremely well through hot summer months before turning bright crimson in fall. It is smaller and slower growing than Bloodgood and is reputed to be the better selection for the long hot summers of the South. Introduced by Richard Wolff of Pennsylvania in 1970, it makes a striking specimen or small shade tree.
- Flowers
- Small red to purple flowers appear in spring; attractive viewed closely but insignificant from a distance.
- Foliage
- Opalescent leaves of dark purple red to black red that hold their colour extremely well through hot summers, taking on a faint blue overtone in diffused light and turning bright crimson in fall.
- Fruit
- A schizocarp of two samaras with incurved wings forming an arch, becoming reddish in fall.
- Bark & stems
- Young stems vary from green to polished reddish brown; older branches assume a gray cast.
- Light
- Morning Sun, Dappled/Filtered Light
- Native range
- Japan, China, Korea, eastern Mongolia and southeastern Russia
