The Autumn Fantasy Maple,  is known for its long lasting, brilliant reddish purple fall color. Only male flowers are produced in spring so there are no messy seeds to clean up. A medium-sized shade tree, it is perfect for the urban garden. Its bright, enduring fall color begins red and gradually turns brilliant purple red over a long period. This maple was developed by the National Arboretum and grows 25 feet tall and 12 feet wide which gives it an oval shape. It exhibits significant tolerance to leafhopper, one of the major pests of landscape red.

Maples (Acer species) are deciduous trees (sometimes shrubs) often grown for the shade they produce and their exceptional autumn color. They may be narrow and columnar, wide spreading and round-headed or low and mounded. Red maple (Acer rubrum), Japanese maple (A. palmatum), southern sugar maple (A. barbatum) and chalkbark maple (A. leucoderme) are adapted to all areas of South Carolina. Generally, sugar maple (A. saccha-rum), Amur maple (A. ginnala) and paperbark maple (A. griseum) are not suited to the Coastal Plains.