Shantung Maple (Acer truncatum) - yellow flowers, illustrated plant cardIllustration

Shantung Maple

Acer truncatum

Also called purpleblow maple and purple blow maple

Shantung Maple blooms from April through April.

Bloom calendar
Bloom time
Apr
checked
Hardiness
Zones 4–8
checked
Sun
Full sun
checked
Water
Moderate water
checked
Mature size
24 ft × 20 ft
checked
Type
Tree
house classification

Months here are Northern Hemisphere months; in the Southern Hemisphere, shift them by six months.

Growing Shantung Maple

Plant it in full sun. It prefers moderate water. It is hardy in USDA zones 4–8. Expect it to reach about 24 ft tall and 20 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 15 years (a house reading).

Pets

  • Not yet checked for pets.

Lists differ and none is complete. If a pet eats a plant and seems unwell, call a veterinarian or a pet poison helpline.

No toxicity note is on file for Shantung Maple. That is not a clearance: check its safety for people and pets before planting.

Verification
What was checked

Nine facts were checked against named botanical sources, each recorded beside the sources that carried it: mature height and spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color, the trait tags, and years to mature size, which rests on a recorded house rule where no publisher states one and is marked so. Soil, diseases, pests, toxicity and the plant's own names have not yet been read for this plant, and its trait tags are the ones a feature uses rather than every word a page prints. Each fact above carries its own mark. The planting, spacing and size sections are derived from these checked facts by a fixed rule, not checked separately, and the plant type is the library's own classification.

See the 8 sources it was checked against

When to plant Shantung Maple

Plant Shantung Maple in early spring as soon as the soil is workable, or in early fall at least six weeks before your first frost, so roots establish in cool weather. In zone 6, the middle of its hardy zones 4 to 8, spring means March to May and fall means August or September. Once settled, it blooms in April.

Month-by-month timing for your zone is on the planting calendar; if you garden near zone 6, the middle of this plant's hardy range, start with zone 6 in March. Derived from the plant's category, zones and bloom months plus typical zone frost dates, not checked separately.

How big does Shantung Maple get?

Illustration of Shantung Maple drawn to scale beside an adult24 fttall5 ft 7 inan adult20 ftwide
About 24 ft tall and 20 ft wide at maturity: about 4 times as tall as an adult.

See Shantung Maple in a garden plan: the planner shows it in 3D beside everything else you add, growing toward this size over the years.

How far apart to plant Shantung Maple

Derived from the mature spread above by a fixed rule, not checked separately: spacing is the spread, center to center.

Give Shantung Maple about 20 ft of clear ground in every direction, measured from its center. It is one plant with room around it, not a row, and a raised bed is too small for it.

Clear ground around it
20 ft in every direction

Add Shantung Maple to a garden plan and the planner draws it at its full width, so you see the spacing before you buy.

Where these facts come from

Shantung Maple's height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and trait tags were checked against 8 published sources on October 19, 2026. Each one is linked below with every fact it carried, which can include a fact this page still marks as not yet checked, because a source carrying a value is not the same as the value being held to the standard. Facts not in that list, and the planting, spacing and size sections, are not covered by these sources.

  • Missouri Botanical GardenPlant Finderheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and trait tags
  • NC State ExtensionPlant Toolboxheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and trait tags
  • The Morton Arboretumheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and trait tags
  • nwmissouri.eduNorthwest Missouri State University, Missouri Arboretumheight, spread, hardiness zones, water and bloom months and color
  • woodyplants.cals.cornell.eduCornell University Woody Plants Databaseheight, hardiness zones, sun, water and bloom months and color
  • RHSRoyal Horticultural Societyheight, spread, water and bloom months and color
  • covingtonnursery.comCovington's Nursery & Landscapeheight, spread, hardiness zones and sun
  • nursery-crop-extension.mgcafe.uky.eduUniversity of Kentucky Nursery Crop Extension Researchheight, spread, hardiness zones and trait tags

How the checking works, and what each standard covers, is on the verified plants page.

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Drop this plant onto a 3D plan, see how it fills in, and watch your whole garden bloom across the year.

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