About Acer tataricum subsp. ginnala (Maxim.) Wesm.
Acer tataricum, commonly known as Tatar maple, is a deciduous spreading shrub or small tree. It reaches 4 to 12 metres (13 to 39 ft) in height, with a short trunk that grows up to 20 to 50 centimetres (7.9 to 19.7 in) in diameter, and produces slender branches. Its bark is thin, pale brown, and smooth when young, becoming shallowly fissured on mature plants. Its leaves are arranged oppositely, are simple in form, and broadly ovate in shape, measuring 4.5 to 10 centimetres (1.8 to 3.9 in) long and 3 to 7 centimetres (1.2 to 2.8 in) wide. Leaves are either unlobed or bear three to five shallow lobes, with a matte green upper surface; the leaf margin is coarsely and irregularly toothed. The slender leaf petiole is often pink-tinged, and measures 2 to 5 centimetres (0.79 to 1.97 in) long. Its flowers are whitish-green, 5 to 8 millimetres (0.20 to 0.31 in) in diameter, and borne in spreading panicles that open in spring along with new leaves. The fruit is a paired reddish samara, 10 to 12 millimetres (0.39 to 0.47 in) long with a 2 to 3 centimetre (0.79 to 1.18 in) wing, that matures from late summer to early autumn. Tatar maple is occasionally grown as an ornamental plant for gardens across Europe and North America. In Russia, it is valued for use in farmland shelterbelts. It has become locally naturalised, and is sometimes invasive, in eastern North America.
