 The scientific and English names derive from the reddish down on the veins, the Japanese name from the bark pattern.It can be distinguished from the related "Acer capillipes" (Japanese, ホソエカエデ "hosoekaede"), with which it often occurs, by the green petioles, the rufous hairs on the underside of the leaves (contrasting with the hairless or only thinly hairy "A. capillipes" leaves), and in flowering earlier in spring at the same time as the leaves appear.It is a small deciduous tree growing to a height of 8–15 m, with a trunk up to 40 cm diameter.