My wife who is Japanese said that it is for real.

Wow ..

Thanks edosan

I was resigned to believing that it was a photo shopped picture as many folks have told me.

Does your wife know the name of the maple?

Mc

I would be interested in getting one as well, or seeds for one.

I opened it in Microsoft DigitalImage and clicked on "autofix" and this was the result. I'm not drawing any conclusions for you, but why it came out looking normal and with a more naturalgrass tone is an odd coincidence.