What a difference a month makes!

With a friend visiting for a week and then a week away on a birding trip, I hadn’t managed to visit Mono, my tree, until the very end of the month. In the few short weeks since my last visit, encouraged by some brilliantly fine weather and a definite rise in daytime temperatures, Mono’s buds have burst open to reveal her splendid summer foliage.

upper side of leaf

lower side of leaf

The scientific description for her leaves is as follows:

leaves depressed-orbicular; 7-15cm wide, deeply to rather shallowly 5- to 7-lobed, cordate to somewhat truncate at base, usually glabrous on upper side, short-pubescent to glabrous except for the axillary tufts of hairs beneath, the lobes deltoid to lanceolate, entire or with few coarse teeth, acuminate and awn-tipped, the petioles 4-12cm long, glabrous to short-pubescent.

I shall attempt to translate: the leaves are roughly circular, if somewhat heart-shaped, and range in size from 7 to 15 cm across. They are smooth on top, though sometimes have short hairs on the underside. Each leaf has between 5 and 7 projections that are roughly triangular and shaped a bit like the head of a lance. The edges of the leaves can be smooth or slightly jagged, like the teeth of a saw, and the stalk that joins the leaf to the stem ranges from 4 to 12 cms long, is sometimes smooth, sometimes a bit hairy.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The upshot is that Mono, my tree, an Acer pictum aka Acer mono, is looking absolutely stunning in her lush and vibrant new foliage!