Can anyone help me ID these maples photographed in Sichuan in September and October? #1 is from Luoji Shan in S Sichuan, between 2500 and 3000m altitude.
Looks like they're Sec. Macrantha maples, specific anatomical features are used to determine which particular ones. http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=317203
The trunk with the reddish papery bark belongs to a birch. One seen in western cultivation with a similar appearance is http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200006168
Sorry, had another look at the full size image, and I guess you're both right, I had to do some acrobatics to get the pictures (and a few seeds), so must have missed the obvious.
Any idea what section this belongs to? Also Hailuogou, around 2500m. (Sorry for the quality, it was raining.)
I had a similar thought but wasn't originally sure enough of myself to post. Acer sinense (A. campbelli subsp. sinense), for example, looks similar and is native to Sichuan at 2500m. (Not saying it is this species, just putting it forward as one possibility.) A. sinense at Flora of China Illustration
Thanks guys, it's all noted down on the labels :) Are there maples of sect. Sinensia that are reliably hardy in a (cool) maritime z7? ...and these can be whittled down further if the listed distributions are to be trusted: AA. davidii, forrestii, laxiflorum, maximowiczii, pectinatum. #1 and #2 were both shrubby, #2 was rather compact as well, but it was growing rather exposed.
Trees growing in a shrub-like manner a function of site conditions. Subalpine fir, for instance can be a 100' spire or a creeping mat.