You may know all about maples, but do you know of the OTHER genus? I know, I know, acer IS a genus. im talking about in the family Aceraceae (more recently many botanist have lumped this family with Sapindaceae), in which there are 2 genera: Acer and sister genus, Dipteronia, which is represented in the fossil record with occurrences in both North America and Asia.

I know some of you are collecting maples so I thought you might be interested to know about these trees as well, as they are mapleÂs closest relatives.

Dipteronia is a genus with only two species: Dipteronia sinensis and Dipteronia dyeriana

These small trees or large shrubs are found in China, where they are listed as rare by the China Plant Red Data Book. The leaves are quite unlike those of maple, being large, feathery, and compound- up to 20 inches long for the entire leaf. The foliage emerges with colored tints similar to some maples. The seeds are decorative on the plant and mature to red. The seeds are different form maples in that the winged membrane encircles the seed.

Both species are interesting ornamental specimens and are not often cultivated. ItÂs a shame because they really are lovely species and deserve to be more popular. These species future would also be more secure if they were cultivated, because both are threatened by deforestation and are regenerating poorly. Indeed, Dipteronia dyeriana is already endangered.

I hope more people will cultivate these little-known plants.