I have a beni otaki but it's a tree year graft ... I think you got what you ordered it looks similar ...Most folks say they DON'T know how ANYONE would ever confuse this plant with bamboo cause it doesn't look like bamboo at all..and why it got that name who knows ... The leaves on mine are slightly more elongated but not much and mine is MUCH older and is 45" high. This has been a hot dry summer for many groweres and the condition of your plant is not bad also the japanese beetles have been especially rampant this year and yours is damaged from them ... plant in a protected area or pot and it should be nice next spring . There are over 300 varieties of JM's and many look similar so who knows but I'd bet its an otaki since it looks similar to mine in a minature mode ;>)...David

Thanks for the feedback. I am more comfortable hearing from somebody who had this for a while :) . I am definitely not happy as I thought it will be very similar to bamboo .. at least the pic I saw gave me that feelings. Oh well, Japanese Maple is pretty without a doubt. I love it! I am sure I will love it regardless its not Beni Otaki of my imagination or not ;) .. Thanks again.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1049028}}

I looked at mine today after posting and the older leaves look much like yours but the newer ones are more like your pic ...I'd bet yours will look more like your linked picture next year...but reguardless it "don't" look like bamboo.Actually several others look more bamboo like ...the red pigmy and the atrolinair both IMHO look more like bamboo and others as well David

Maples can have quite different juvenile leaves vs. mature leaves. Next year the leaves on those branches will look much more like you expected.

What part of Ga do you live in? I am just NE of Atlanta.

Mike

Thanks for the responses! It will be interesting to see how mine turns out. They are all loosing leaves (it is already very cold here). I have them all in pots as we are planning to sell our house. I have a Red Dragon, Beni Otaki, Crimson Queen , Pink Lace and Baldsmith cultivar. I just want to grow them in pot and as soon as I am done clearing up my land, plant those (I bought a piece of property that is heavily wooded now). I have always loved Japanese Maple, but recently got interested in collecting. By the way, should I be taking them inside because it is so cold now in Georgia? Maybe not compare to other places, but it is like 50-55 outside.

Don't take them inside, but protect if necessary. Garage after dormancy, etc. Your little maples will take temps down just blow freezing and probably lower. Insulate the pots if leaving outside (I know you have very young plants)--even pot-in-pot with mulch for insulation will work or burry the pot. Protect from cold winds. I over winter everything outside with no extra protection of first year gallons. We will see some hard freezes and temps into the high 20's regularly.

With the threadleaf or linearlobum varieties it is most common to see the typical leaf on second year and older wood. The new wood can put out both typical and more palmate leaves. Grower stimulated by too much nitrogen will likely tend toward palmate. The thinnest most narrow leaves will almost always develop under stress. Keeping a healthy tree will likely give some compromise between the two forms. Different linearlobums have different tendencies or are more porne to throw palmate growth.

What to you think of your plants from laceleafmaples?

MJH

my advise after visiting a friend in atlanta last month keep control of the kudzu ;>) in it goes w/o saying watch out for those fire ants ;>)..... David

Hey MJH, how did you know I got those from laceleafmaples ;)) ... Actually they are way cheaper than buying from Pike (regardless you get to hand select in PIKE). I think they packaged those plants well (too well for my patience though) :) ...
I bought the Red Dragon from Nishiki Nursery. A nice piece but got carried away and paid little more than I wanted.

Thanks for the advice. So, just keep them outside and perhaps provide insulation.

David, I have not seen any fireants lately; perhaps they got tired of me running over their town with my Lawn Mower :p. On the other hand, I am noticing something that's really bugging me. I notice some digging around my maple(mainly the Red Dragon) and my primary suspect might have a beak :(

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

I have bought from Rob and he has good product but had about 2500$$ worth of trees stolen this summer which may be the reason for smaller stock... he is an anal retentive packer or I guess I should say shipper ;>) and really packs well . I strongly recommend checking out Della at http://nurserygirl1.tripod.com/index.html... she has possitivly the best trees available and hand picks them. she's has 1 year grafts but specialises in 3 gal 4+ years so the shipping price can be steep if you west of the miss. river but you GET wghat you pay for. Of course if you like 6"-15" 1 year grafts they are available on ebay and throughout the web...but if your looking for a specimen or a special or rare variety at a reasonable price email della...I have bought from at least 6 differnt JM internet dealers and she's the best of the bunch...David

OOOPS I should correct this... I said Della had 1 year grafts I meant one GALLON plants for sale along with her 3 gallons at much cheaper prices obviously..David

A nursery near my home has about a half-dozen Beni otaki maples growing in 3 or 5 gallon pots. The trees are about 6' tall, and the leaves and form definitely are bamboolike in appearance -- at least to me. As they mature, the leaves have fewer serrations and are thinner, like a red bamboo leaf. The trunks also have regular nodes that almost have the appearance of bamboo. Whether a mature tree in the ground would look like bamboo I cannot say, but these container grown trees are very suggestive of it.

I guess I just don't see it..I've seen a bizzion pics of them and have one and have grown several species of bamboo and it don't look like bamboo to me...maybe vaguely or maybe the ones you saw have been trimed to look like it or maybe it was bamboo not Beni OOOOOOOOO ...just kidding .Most every seller who has a description of this plant can't see it either. But having grown bamboo and developed a distinct and heated hatred for it ...maybe it's me and I don't want to ever see bamboo again unless I'm eating it's shoots... BTW anyone wishing to grow this evil plant please think twice unless doing it on the "back 40" (bamboo that is) if you want to know why... feel free to email me ...david