DAY 172 (24 SEPTEMBER) – Red emperor maple (Acer palmatum) (Greater London)
I liked these colours on a small shrub in my mother’s garden today. It turns out to be a red emperor (or Japanese) maple. Apparently Swedish botanist Carl Peter Thunberg (perhaps an ancestor of Greta?) discovered it in Japan in the late 18th century and gave it the name palmatum because of its hand-shaped leaves.
The Japanese name is written irohamomjii in our alphabet. Such a beautiful word.
