My wife and I just bought a new home up here in NE PA. On the property was an ancient Acer Palmatum. The tree is about 30 years old and on its last leg. But, it has since seeded and has seedlings all over the surrounding woods. I have dug a few of these up and they are doing quite well. The problem is, I do not know what type of Acer Palmatum they are. Any help identifying these would be much appreciated. I have attached some photos of the seedlings and the mama.
From my vantage point the parent tree is older than 30 years. One thing we have to realize is that seed gathered from trees that are distressed may not look exactly like the parent for up to five years and longer. It is easy to think the seedlings are a deeply divided Maple at first and then later on see the leaves become much more palmate in their shape. Thus, it is not so much the seedlings that will tell us which Maple that one may be but the older parent tree may provide more useful information. With that in mind, you may want to post some close-up photos of the parent plant. I can say from the photo that I am feeling this Maple was either a seedling itself or came about as a rooted cutting. I do not believe at this time that this tree was a grafted progeny based on what I can see of the base (cannot see all the way down to ground level) I can also say that there is a old known cultivar that your tree does show some signs of being but not seeing this tree go through its color stages during the growing season more than once, then any possible or potential name that I am thinking becomes meaningless until I know more. Jim
