Acer monspessulanum

Origin: Southern Europe, West Asia
Botanical chracteristics: It is a shrub or small bushy tree up to 10 mt high. Trilobal leaves are leathery and dark green on the upper side whereas they are glabrous and glaucous on the underside. The petiole is as long as the leaf. Samaras have almost parallel wings. It has a dark bark, which is blackish sometimes and vertically cracked.

Agronomic and environmental characteristics: It lives in dry, rocky areas.

Use: It is used as ornamental plant in parks and gardens due to the change of color of the leaves: they are yellow-green in spring and then red
in autumn. It is used for hedges, too.