Re: Van der Aker 'Van Den Akker' after the nursery and landscaping family here in WA. A friend who worked for the family as a young person got his specimen from them, it is currently about 6' across and planted next to another cultivar that looks very similar.
See this thread: A.p. 'Van den Akker' Family tree in the general maple discussion forum for more info on the origins of this cultivar. (Thanks to spookiejenkins and Ron B.) Unfortunately a different maple (matsumurae type) has been propogated and distributed in Europe under this name, and is described and pictured on pages 361-362 of "Japanese Maples" 4th edition in the section "Cultivars Not Yet Assessed". According to the available information the dissectum type appears to be the true form of this cultivar.
I just parted today with an outstanding Ap 'Van den Akker' which had a 7' spread and stood about 3' tall. I found the tree to have a very nice low shape with not a great amount of inside growth. The tree is going to be installed on the edge of a waterfall. The color of this Van Den Akker had a nice magenta purple color.
