Cultivar origin

Fratelli Gilardelli nursery, Agrate Brianza, near Milan, Italy

Discovered / selected by

Fratelli Gilardelli nursery; individual selector unconfirmed

'Summer Gold' originated with Fratelli Gilardelli, the Italian maple nursery at Agrate Brianza near Milan. A contemporary nursery-event announcement identifies it among cultivars raised by the company and separately announces its presentation alongside 'Jordan'. Specialist nursery accounts also credit Gilardelli with its introduction. A horticultural article published in November 2002 already described 'Summer Gold' as a new Gilardelli cultivar, establishing documentation by that date without fixing its selection or first introduction year. The Maple Society classifies it in the Aureum Group and identifies it as an Acer palmatum × Acer shirasawanum hybrid. That botanical attribution does not establish named parent plants, a controlled crossing history, or an individual hybridizer. Its enduring yellow summer foliage distinguishes this Italian selection.