The first name I thought of was 'Twisted Firestarter', like the line from that song. (And I don't even like the band). I shouldn't think you would want to use this name for your maple, and I didn't even want to post the suggestion, but once the name popped into my head I couldn't think of any other no matter how long I looked at the pictures - it will always be 'Twisted Firestarter' a.k.a. 'Whatever name you choose' to me.
Looks like 'Devil's Claw' to me. Great seedling. A chance at a plant like it keeps me sowing seed every year. Keith
I also thought of 'redrum', murder spelled backwards, like from Steven King's "The Shining". Or maybe "Randall Flag" the villain in "The Stand". Just thinking outloud....
Redrum is great. Devil's claw isn't bad. I also like Angry Elf. If you name it Redrum, I bet you would see nurseries selling as Red rum.
"It doesn't look quite as reticulated as some of the others, but the color and leaf shape are different from what I have seen." Right now, before it get's too hot here, it's in a very sunny location. The reticulation is more pronounced in a little shade or, even on the leaves that are shaded by other leaves. That's already starting to happen the shaded leaves have are more greenish on the inner parts of the leaves and more red towards the margins. I'll get some pictures of this feature.
When I look at it one way I see a pitchfork and the other way it looks like a barbed arrow. How about Devil's Pitchfork? Or what about Red Arrow? It's easy to say and translate. It shows up in Japanese mythology as a love token and um more (http://ejmas.com/jcs/jcsart_denig_0301.htm and http://www.archive.org/stream/legendinjapanese00jolyuoft/legendinjapanese00jolyuoft_djvu.txt and http://www.cipang.com/kamo_shrine.html), it's the name of a famous American WWI division that was partially trained in ToddTheLorax's home state of Texas (http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/petotten.htm), and is also a Tolkien reference (http://www.tuckborough.net/swords.html).
Here are some summer photos of what i am tentatively calling 'redrum' it's been in full sun and looks a little crispy, I'm moving it to a shadier spot.
Todd, Great job with this thread. Not only is your little gem a real beauty (love post 10 three year old pics) but I love the sentiments you expressed in post 20. Look at the fun you have given us all chronicling in pictures the last 3 years of this lovely new seedling and the fun members have had suggesting names. Well done indeed. Mike
