The range of this species is limited to the southwestern part of the island of Honshu and the islands of Hokkaido and Kyushu. The hawthorn maple grows there in deciduous forests in the mountains at altitudes from 200 to 1100 meters above sea level. Prefers bright places at the edge of the forest, near streams and in clearings.Grows in the form of a large shrub or tree with a slender crown from 8 to 10 m in height.
Young shoots are mostly reddish, sometimes green, slightly covered with bloom and pubescent during blooming. Older branches are dark green to gray-green in color, sometimes with black or white longitudinal stripes.
The leaves are devoid of division or indistinctly divided into three lobes at the base, oblong-ovate, pointed, 4 to 8 cm long, the base is weakly heart-shaped. The edges are unevenly and finely serrated. Above, bluish-green and glabrous, underneath dull green, slightly covered with bloom, pubescent when blooming. The petiole is 2 to 3 cm long, red. Autumn leaf color bright red This maple is dioecious. Flowers are yellowish-white, collected in 10-15 clusters in erect clusters 3 to 5 cm long. As a rule, flowers appear on a short shoot together with a pair of leaves. Male flowers have a rudimentary gynoecium, female flowers also show the remains of stamens. Blooms in May.
The fruit is a red lionfish with wings located horizontally relative to each other. A nutlet with a wing is 2 cm long.
