Anyone got a good read on what cultivar this is?

[SouthernMaple]

It is impossible. You might not understand WHY it is impossible, but that doesn't make it possible. I have talked about this very subject with a professional who owns a Japanese maple nursery. When I brought up this subject he laughed, and agreed, and said he has lost count of the people who send him photos and ask him to identify their tree. He can't, and he tries to explain why, but some people don't understand.

I can show you 1000 seedlings from a Bloodgood. Many will look like a Bloodgood. Some will even look identical to a Bloodgood. Not a single one is a Bloodgood. If I showed you a photo of one of these seedlings that looked identical to a Bloodgood, but isn't, how would you respond? And I don't like it when people throw around the term "hater" just because you are pointing out scientific fact. Note that the OP understands that no one can really tell what tree is in that photo... which is why he is going to try two different cultivars and perhaps end up with something that looks similar.

FWIW this fall I collected hundreds of seeds from three different red JM cultivars - Bloodgood, Crimson Queen, Red Dragon. I put them all in one bag to cold stratify them, because they are all just generic red Japanese maple... no matter WHAT they look like.

I've been dealing with haters all my life, when I was 12 I was told I couldn't dunk a basketball. I was told it was impossible. I DID IT. Just because your friend that owns a nursery cannot identify a maple , doesn't mean no one can. Keep hating, it just adds fuel to the fire.

I have identified hundreds of maples through pictures, just this last weekend I identified a kotohime in full dormancy taking one look at it 20 feet away.

If someone can do something that I find impossible I congratulate them and move on, I don't argue with them and tell them they are wrong and try and make sense of it. You can believe me or not, its up to you.

 

[nuttiest]

I performed a layer on one from 20 feet away, in the dark while intoxicated.

 

[SouthernMaple]

I performed a layer on one from 20 feet away, in the dark while intoxicated.

touche