Hi, is Acer Palmatum 'Red Pygmy' similar to the Japanese Maple Acer Palmatum 'Beni Otake'? If you had Beni Otake would you still get Red Pygmy? Any significant differences between the 2 Japanese Maples? Thanks
I have both and prefer Beni Otake because of it's ability to hold the deep red summer color reliably each season. The leaves get smaller with age and the tree slows down in growth too giving it a densely but well kept appearance. The fall color is a reliable red. Red Pygmy can be a mixed bag. When you buy one your not sure what you will get. It's one cultivar that got mixed up at some point so it's hard to say which one is right or they may both be right depending who you ask. Of the two Red Pygmy I have direct experience with, one came originally from Canada via a local wholesale grower. It is very tall and narrow. The lobes are narrow and short. Some years they leaf out burgandy or almost deep purple and stay red for summer. Then turn orange for fall. Other seasons they leaf out burgandy but quickly turn green as the leaves mature in a matter of days. The fall color is then yellow. The other Red Pygmy I know of comes into the area from an Oregon grower. It is very similar to Beni Otake through out most of the growing season, but tends to loose it's deep color as the heat of July- August sets in. It is vase shape. The last Red Pygmy that I know of (but don't have personal experience) is known to be a rename of villa taranto. It is more mounding growth habit. Starts out purple red and turns more red orage for summer, fading to green just before fall colors of orange yellow. It is a densely mounding shape. I think Red Pygmy is a cultivar that should be bought in person in a 10 gallon or larger container. That way you know what you are getting because by that age it's very clear which form you are getting (tall and narrow, vase shape, or short and mounding). There are several other red linearilobum cultivars to choose before you bet on Red Pygmy from an online seller or if you are looking for a young tree. If buying an older Red Pygmy in person is a safer bet because it's much easier to predict which version you are getting because their form ends up being much more apparent with age. Then if you need something tall and narrow, vase shaped, or mounding to serve a very specific purpose in your landscape it's easy to get what you want.
