Tree of the Year 2023: Cutleaf Japanese Maple

With another busy year in the history books, it is now time to immortalize a special woody plant by awarding the prestigious tree of year honor to a lucky individual. With so many intriguing and beautiful trees witnessed, photographed, and described within city limits in 2023, it can’t be overstated how difficult this decision is. Despite many excellent candidates, one beloved tree rose to the top of the pile.

The cutleaf Japanese maple (Acer palmatum var. dissectum atropurpureum) at the Redwood Library sits in a prominent spot along Bellevue Avenue. Thousands of people admire it every year, with many stopping to take photos and to remark on its beautiful fern-like foliage. It could be argued that the plant is most interesting to look at now in winter, when the entire body or framework of the tree is visible through the bare canopy. Growth snakes out in all directions; it’s surprising the plant doesn’t tie itself into knots. If it grew faster, maybe it would.

In 2021, I snapped a picture of the maple in mid-October with half of the crown displaying fall color and the other half still green. Originally, I thought the propagator must have a had a little too much fun and grafted two dissected leaf cultivars together. However, when looking at the leaf characteristics, I see no difference between the north and south side of the plant. Growth from the rootstock would not yield dissected foliage, and a reversion of such similarity is unlikely. I came to the conclusion that the growth on north side is less vigorous, resulting in the foliage to senesce earlier. A brilliant and fascinating display none the less, certain to catch the eyes of drivers on Bellevue.

An amazing tree; we are so thankful to those responsible for planting it years ago, so that it can be enjoyed by so many people today.