Acer not leafing out

I received this plant from a nursery when I ordered a Calycanthus floridus and I suspect it could be an Acer. (The nursery asked that I wait for it to leaf out before getting back to them).

I repotted it as soon as I brought it home in mid-April. It had small buds that were shriveled and black, probably from frost. It has been a month since repotting and it still hasn't leafed out, and no buds show signs of developing. A scratch test shows the cambium is green.

Is it just very stressed? Is there anything I can do?

The potting mix is quite well draining, but I did pot up by 2-3x because I didn't know what plant it was when I first got it. I used mychorrizal powder while repotting too.

 

Good afternoon @Ninthofmarch, sadly I'm not seeing anything that would give me encouragement that it will leaf out. Even with this very cold Spring we have all had, you should be seeing some buds swelling or some red buds by now. Yes it was obviously stressed, which can put them back a few weeks.
But as I said, it has been the coldest Spring in over 60 years, so give it until June to see if you get anything.
Regarding is there anything you can so, and the answer is 'no' IMO.
Just a little more patience, but I would not be too optimistic.

 

Thank you @Acerholic .

I'm not terribly optimistic either, but will keep my fingers crossed. The tree looks like it has a few years on it, from the lichen.

I guess sometimes this just happens with plants from a nursery.

 

Sadly it does. But I will keep my fingers crossed for you as well.

 

mmmm...in the picture I can’t see any bud and the color of the branches doesn’t give me a positive feeling...me too with crossed fingers but not optimistic.

 

So, obviously not Calycanthus as you saw, and though the buds are opposite suggesting Acer, I don't think it is one. Certainly for something in the Section Palmata, the dried out buds appear too elongated, and the branch swelling seems wrong. The larger bark has a dotted pattern that doesn't resemble a Japanese Maple anyway, and although there are maples with this pattern, the buds are wrong for them.

My guess is, not a maple and maybe dead in spite of the scratch test. Sorry!

 

I agree with @emery doesn't look quite right for a Japanese maple. No idea on the true ID though...

 

Thank you everyone for looking at this - it's such a mystery. I'll update this thread if it ever does leaf out. (: