i recently bought a young Japanese Maple. It didn't look to be in great shape when I got it but I figured once it was in the ground it would come around. The leaves look kind of spotted to me and it just doesn't look well. I've had it less than two weeks so maybe I'm just not giving it enough time. Any advice would be appreciated. I also wanted an opinion on the identification of species. The tag said Acer Palmatum Atropurpureum. After looking it up online I am learning that Atropurpureum is an overused and practically meaningless word in regards to identification of Japanese Maples due to it's over use of many varieties. I'm going to try to add some pics to this message.
Looks like the leaves have been chewed up a bit by capsid bugs - that's something it will recover from with the new leaves next year.
Good morning Bill, can I ask if it has been grafted? If it hasn't then it is probably Acer palmatum Atropurpureum . You are right that the name is used a lot, but it is in many many gardens under this name as a very good red on it's own roots. So I have no problem at all calling it this. As far as the damage is concerned, Michael has already answered this so I will not add further. D
Thank you. I'm new to these trees but I haven't seen anything in the root system or on the tree anywhere that would make me think it was grafted. It just appears to be one single tree.
Yes, that would be a seedling. And it should do just fine. Although not grafted, the tree should thrive with the deep red tones as shown in your pictures. Height and fall colors, etc may vary depending on how the seedling matures. Always a guessing game with seedlings but they are a beautiful tree when given a chance to grow.
