It is rare in cultivation and hard to obtain. It's native to south west Italy. I'm surprised how well it grows here in Poland (mountains, zone 6). It survived last winter without any damage.
Currently classified as A. cappidocicum ssp lobelli. I haven't (yet) planted this one, but I'm surprised to hear you say it's hard to get; seems to be readily available in France and the Netherlands. Your specimen has an interesting leaf form. Most now just call this "the upright form of A. cappidocicum," so it's curious to see the divergence there. I wonder if the species has been diluted... Thanks for the post. -E
I red that there is some confusion in classification. I think that "illustrated guide to maples" classify it as A. lobelii. It's not available in nurseries here in Poland so I must say I'm very lucky to get one:).
That's a minority opinion; others have also classified it as Acer platanoides subsp. lobelii, but it is more generally treated as a distinct species. As well as southern Italy, it also occurs in the Former Yugoslavia: http://ww2.bgbm.org/_EuroPlusMed/PTaxonDetail.asp?NameId=828&PTRefFk=500000 It is a very rare species in the wild, only occurring in small groups, and is listed as endangered in Italy: http://www.sisef.it/forest@/show.php?id=419 (click on 'Full View' to read the whole article).
It matches descriptions of the species very well, e.g. "Leaves broader than long with five lobes which are shouldered and abruptly tapered to the apex, base subcordate, margins crinkled, mostly untoothed but sometimes with a few teeth on the main lobes" (Rushforth 1999). So I'd guess this plant is correctly labelled. If the ones "readily available in France and the Netherlands" differ, it does sound like they may not be true to name.
My copy in English of the "Illustrated Guide" lists it under cappidocicum. I know you disagree Michael, but most of us accept the de Jong's classification. Certainly there is room for much discussion, and no doubt as better genetic information becomes available there will be refinement. Perhaps at that time lobelli will again be a separate species. In the meantime, "minority opinion" I disagree with... My sense in this sort of taxonomy there is no "right or wrong", but simply which convention one agrees to subscribe to. -E
Maybe de Jong's judgement was based on those dubious Dutch plants. Worth adding that de Jong was a horticulturalist, not a botanist. I'd take his classifications with a dose of sodium chloride, particularly as a lot of it is based around some very dubious work by "Dr." Edward Murray, sole author and editor of the unreviewed "botanical journal" Kalmia, whose ideas on other plant genera are universally dismissed.