My Japanese Maple has sprouted a much lighter colored and much larger leaf section on a lower branch. What's up?
It could be the rootstock sprouting up - it happens from time to time, since nearly all JM are grafted. I would just prune it out and if it happens again do the same thing.
The growth is at the end of one of the lower branches, about 12 inches in length with leaves that are 3-4 times normal size. Does this still sound like rootstock?
A good photo or two would be helpful here. Several cultivars do often force out new growth during the summer that differs from the spring growth. Sometimes it is rather insignificant like in many basic green palmatums, sometimes it is quite drastic with some of the linearilobums.
