Hi. Got my first JM about a couple of months ago and am in love with it. Hoping you can help me identify it. The leaves are really small - most are around 1 to 1.5 inches (approx). And unlike the other coral barks I've seen, have turned from a yellow/red to full red despite the fact that we've headed from spring to summer. Had a 5 day stretch of 90 degree days here (Boston suburb). Nick
Good evening @Dr.X and welcome to the forum. That does indeed look like Sango Kaku, but the red leaves are a sign of stress or shutting down due to heat or in fact possibly aphid attack. There is every chance these leaves will drop in the next few weeks. But hopefully you will see a second flush in early July. I am seeing a lot of this in 2021 and I believe it is the trees reacting to the very strange weather. I have an Edna Bergman that has done exactly the same as your tree. For this I have given it extra shade and ensured it gets enough water, but not too much, as no leaves means it will not need so much. It is then a fingers crossed scenario IMO. Sorry I can't offer anything else to help. D
That's incredibly helpful. Thank you!! It also points out a mistake I made - this tree had reddish leaves when I bought it and the others around it green. So I bought it thinking it was a different cultivar. Instead, I probably bought the unhealthy tree from a group at the nursery. Oh well. Live and learn.
Not sure at all this is 'Sango kaku' : The red leaves look very healthy, so to me that excludes both the heat and aphid attack. I may be wrong, and my knowledge of the numerous cultivars of Acer palm-oenum is very limited, but I have a 'Sango kaku' that suffered from the heat, this year and in past years, and I'm very sceptical about this ID... As the Normands (the people in normandy, FR) say : "P'têt bin qu'oui, p'têt bin qu'non..." (Maybe so, maybe not)
One thing for sure, it's a Coral bark, lol. I live in RI and haven't seen the red leaves this early in the season around here on a 'Sango Kaku'. Most are in full sun. It's possible that it could be stressed like @Acerholic stated. But those leaves look healthy to me as will like @AlainK stated.
I always thought 'Sango kaku' leaves would go yellow/orange or brown if stressed. I have never seen any red leaves on mine. Ever. Or on 'Eddisbury'.
The tree doesn’t look stressed to me.. and similarly to maf I’ve never seen red leaves on the 3 i have..ever..one of mine has smaller leaves than the others
