krazy karma, just back out of this post and look at the top of the listings of postings of this forum. You'll see a heading "ON TOPIC DSSCUSSIONS" and next to it in smaller type, "Gallery". If you click on this with your mouse, it will direct you to the photo gallery for this forum (although it is perfectly acceptable to post photos in the discussions as well) and you will located linanm's pics. Unfortunately I have no enlightenment as to the ID :-) I'm not sure it is either Beni Maiko or Shindeshojo as my experience with both of these is that the incredibly red spring growth remains intact until quite a bit later in the season before changing gradually to green. Both of mine are in full leaf of the moment and neither has anything close to green on it. I guess it maybe quite likely that they could color up differently in SoCal's different climate, though.

Might be an unnamed seedling. As for pruning, I like to keep as many leaves as possible the first 2-3 years and then look at structural pruning. tj

David-- You want me to tell you all my secrets:) I watch almost everything I can find online regarding maples, ebay included. Laceleaf is the only seller of Pink Lace that I have seen. A supposed seedling of Viridis that is more vigorous and has pink in its spring and new growth color. The sale of that plant has always tweaked me as I think it is illegitimate as a variety name--heck most of the seedlings of Virids exhibit those qualities. Anyway, not to detract from your purchase. Your Beni otake photos also looks like their plant. I also think Rob at nishiki is getting a bit much for his plants. They used to be quite large and worth the money, now with his increase in sales, the plants are going out before they have adequate size on them. Instead of separating himself from everyone else, he is selling small plants for acution prices to keep up with the demand. Truth be told, all of the auction trees have gotten pretty small. If I buy and auction tree, I try to stay below $15 and below $20 if I really want it---they are just to small to pay big money and buy sight unseen. MJH

It's definitely not Beni Otake - that is a linearlobum type with very narrow, bamboo-like leaves. In fact, the name translates to "red bamboo" :-) Did you plant the tree or did it spring up on its own? That would make a difference but generally, with very few exceptions, cultivars of Japanese maples are extremely difficult to ID. The differences between individual cultivars can be very slight and even JM authorities are hesitant to assign specific ID's. I can tell you that based on the current growth habit and the spacing of the branches with respect to trunk diameter, this will grow into a good sized tree, probably 15-20 feet, perhaps more. Looks a bit like a Bloodgood clone/seedling.