Hey toronado, I'm guessing and maybe I'm wrong, but I really think that might maybe be Amur Maple...... :-p Arktrees P.S. Yes they are very tough and not large trees. Get a good selection and they can have very nice fall color. Seems most of them I see planted are "topped" for the first few years, as to prevent them from growing tall and stringy, and to force widening so that they can be pruned as you see in your pics. Even the local botanical garden followed this practice on probable a dozen of them that they planted. May be the only tree I know of that "topping" is of ultimate benefit.

I see that censorship is alive and well on the Gardenweb. I've seen a lot of Japanese maples in my life and I've seen many with multiple branches low on the trunk but never one that has several trunks coming out of the ground like in the photos that Dave posted. It truly does look like a shrub. That look is not my cup of tea for a Japanese maple. If I want something that looks like a lilic then I'll go buy the lilac. IMHO, the Burgandy Lace was not pruned properly when it was younger although that it strictly from a viewpoint of aesthetics and not structural abnormalities. Looking at it's branching structure, I don't see any branches that resemble the acute angle on the maple in this thread. I still maintain that the latter needs a pruning job to correct for a structural defect. A tree that gets this large is going to act like a sail. Consequently, the wind is going to get leverage on any tall trunks that branch low on the tree. I am not saying that a Japanese maple needs to be pruned to look like an oak tree or any other really large tree. What I am saying is that sound pruning practices are applicable for any plants above a certain size. It is irresponsible and amateurish to suggest otherwise. It is also hypocritical to suggest this for some trees but not others not to mention confusing for anyone new to the Gardenweb. I must respond to one of the deleted posts. Basically, it was stated that this tree will not recover and fill out from pruning off the second leader. K4 hit the nail on the head in his response which was that the tree will throw out a lot of new growth next year after this leader is pruned off. This new growth will provide plenty of opportunity to shape the tree into a far better look than it has now. Without question, the tree will quickly fill out and I question the practical experience of anyone who states otherwise.

It's not inevitable that other existing maples will get it. But it is a possibility. I had a western redbud that succumbed - they too are quite susceptible - and because I had additional susceptible species in close proximity, I elected not to remove the dead tree to avoid any root disturbance. I grew a clematis on it instead :-) The remains eventually rotted away. I also lost a Japanese maple to it, in an entirely different area of my garden. Other J. maples in the garden so far have not been affected (this has been more than 10 years), but I tried to maintain the trees in very good health and avoided any unnecessary cultivation in their root zone. Acer palmatum tends to be more prone than other maple species but any can get it. Keeping the trees in good health, free of stress, any root damage or disturbance and sterilizing pruning tools will reduce the potential for it spreading elsewhere. And I also chose to grow the rest of my maples in containers:-) But even that's no guarantee.

It depends :-) If there are various types of JM's in the vicinity, cross pollination can occur and who knows what the seedlings will look like. However, if just seeds produced by a dissectum (without any cross pollination), chances are very good seedlings will have the highly dissected foliage of the parent. Acer palmatum subgroups: Group 1 - Palmatum Group 2 - Amoenum Group 3 - Matsumurae Group 4 - Dissectum Group 5 - Linearlobum Group 6 - Dwarf Group 7 - Not elsewhere listed (cultivars in this group do not fit into the above groupings and tend to be upward growing shrubs that have unusual leaf forms or colors) These are subgroups recognized by most JM authorities and reflected in the texts written both by Vertrees and Van Gelderen.