This species grows as a
deciduous large
shrub or small
tree growing to 8–15 m tall with a
trunk up to 50 cm diameter. The
bark is smooth on both young and old trees. The shoots are slender, and hairless. The
leaves are rounded, 4.5–8 cm long and 6–12 cm broad, palmately veined and lobed, with 9–13 (rarely 7) serrate shallowly incised lobes; they are hairless, or thinly hairy at first with white hairs; the petiole is 3–7 cm long and hairless. In autumn, the leaves turn bright gold or orange to dark red. The
flowers are 1 cm diameter, with five dark purplish-red sepals, five small whitish petals (soon lost), and red stamens; they are
andromonoecious, with inflorescences containing flowers with either both sexes, or just male, and are produced 10–20 together in erect terminal
corymbs in early spring soon after the leaves appear. The
fruit is a paired
samara with the nutlets 5–10 mm diameter with a 20–25 mm wing, erect above the leaves, bright red maturing brown. ==Taxonomy==