Not sure, maybe some sort of wilt. Check to see if there is any trunk damage by the base of the tree. Scratch the trunk - is there green under the bark? If so it is still alive and might put out another set of leaves. Also, what is around the base blocking weeds? It LOOKS new - I assume it is porous?

MIGHT be verticillium - this will show you how to diagnose
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/3000/3053.html

If newly planted (this season)....rain is not enough.....the tree is living from water in its root ball ....you must keep that root ball wet until the feeder roots can get established...if the tree has been in the ground for a couple of seasons then I would look into the possibility posed by corkball.

Ian

That's a Japanese maple, btw (Acer palmatum). "Red Maple" commonly refers to Acer rubrum.

If it is a new transplant disregard the rest.

I just had a decade old Acer palmatum die on me. Well 99%, it does have a sucker sprout but we're not going to wait for it to die.

My ordeal:
-looked good last year through the heat and drought.
-leafed out this year.
-seemed to have some dead stems I blamed on a late freeze but overall looked pretty good.
-leaves began dying a branch at a time and sticking to the tree.
-found some dark streaks in the wood when cut
-now it is all dead.

An extension agent and folks on the maple forum seem to think it was verticillium wilt.

Here is a link that might be useful: UBC

Water it. It's dying of thirst, in my opinion.

Given all the rain that area has gotten, I have great trouble believing it is lack of water.

BTW, if all the leaves look like those, its not dying.

Its dead already.

Hi,

Thanks for all the help. We have had a ton of rain here in the last few weeks so I know it was watered well. The tree is/was 3 years old. I found it as a seedling in my yard although I have no other Japanese maples. I do believe now that it might be dead. The branches are very brittle. I am surprised that the leaves didn't fall off. I may take a piece to my local garden center just to be sure.

Nancy