The bright coral-red colour of the bark is the most prominent feature of this maple tree. Sometimes the colour is almost fluorescent, the younger the bark the deeper the colour.
The bright hue becomes even brighter in Autumn and deepens as Winter approaches, the sight of this plant in the snow is quite extraordinary. The foliage is typically palmatum with 5-7 lobed leaves. Each lobe has double-toothed edges.
The colour is bright green, with new leaves edges being of a reddish colour which fades as the leaves mature. As summer approaches the foliage becomes lighter in colour, typical of the light green palmatum. The Autumn colouring shows some golden yellow tones with deep apricot and bright red shades.
This is an erect habit tree which can reach 7 metres in height and 6 in width, it is a very pleasant specimen ideal for landscaping. Sometimes this maple tree has been erroneously termed 'Corallinum', but this name belongs to a totally different type of cultivar.