Distinctive Lion’s Head Japanese maple, also known as ‘Meijishi’, the name for the mythological female lion of Japanese drama, has upright branches that are thickly covered with dense layers of foliage. The small, green, heavily textured leaves coat the tree’s outward spreading branches, and in fall, brilliant oranges and yellows arrive very late, which extends the season’s dramatic color display. Aristocratic stature carries the show in winter.