It looks almost like sweetgum - the leaves look alternate though I could be mistaken.

Close but I dont think so, no balls on it, the guy had like 8 of them, I took the small one.. sweetgum leaves are a little larger to.. Any body else know? My guess was Acer P. Hogyoku??

coulds be a jm you'll prob never know for sure what variety IMHO that was my first thought upon looking but then thought otherwisen since you had named a non jm species...is it a grafted tree check the trunk if not it is not a named cultivar unless propagated by other non usual methods ...a gum tree would likely be not grafted...also the "new " evil tree is the seedloss sweet gum ... "Look Ma NO balls" ( it may be grafted since it's new and specific) ..don't know !!! and younger tree do have smaller leaves obviously... if a useless gum it would most likely be very symetrical pointed and not very jm like... as always whole tree photo shots help... leaves only go so far and there is no porpotion to the shot.....if it were a gummy that may be why he had 8 of them!!! ;>)David

oops simple test ...take a small twig or leaf and crunch...if it has that tell tale PUTRID smell you got yourself a certifies gum tree and probably should be certified for buying it ;>0000 David

Ok I snorted a Sango Kaku and a Bloodgood and the mystery tree and all smell about the same.. also dont understand your > 0000 comment.. ?? tree was only 45$

the other trees all had multiple trunks or branches and are not compact to one single trunk.. bark is green.. and after my lines of maples I snorted all smelled about the same.. acer trident is the label on them but this is not correct I am sure..

If it don't smell like a gum it aint ...my ;>0000 is paying anything for a gum tree is TOO much I hate em ..no big deal just a personal thing a winking gasping symbol for knowing another poor sole has bought a dreaded gummie...But that is not the case if no odor ..I don't know the trident so can't help you someone here probably can ...I do think it looks like a JM leaf though did you check for a graft mark on trunk but positivly identifying it may be imposssible since there are so many are similar ones ... after several years of seeing it's spring summer and fall "look" you may have a pretty good idea although even thenm it's dicey ...trees vary within cultivar somewhat and from soil and weather conditions and the later can change from year to year...GOOD LUCK!!! ...David

hmm still no luck on identification,, may have to wait till spring for leaf color change.. unless someone else knows what it is.. very pretty tree, I like it alot.. it was so cheap because the store bought it off a closing store, so he took his whole stock of stuff for practically nothing.. this tree at HD would be 200US+ if it is a true japanense maple which I am convinced it is..

Hmm.. the JM leaf looks identical to some of the others I have. So a bit confused on that statement.. I currently have 9 maples.. Acer P. Hogyoku.. is still my best guess so far but would really like to know as the store I bought it wants to know too.. the store I bought it has another exotic plant that looks like a watermelon with branches coming out of it and he doesnt know what that is either.. weird looking tree/plant.. I had no clue either..

Hundreds of kinds of Japanese maple cultivars have been introduced, including some that are not conspicuously different from ordinary wild seedlings. You may have to make quite a study of it to get a match, unless yours is a common and distinct one. A good example here, where I see it frequently would be 'Seiryu'--not too much else on the market that could be mistaken for that one. Otherwise an unnamed seedling could be a recurrence of a type that has been selected and named elsewhere but is not the same exact clonal cultivar. So a plant purchased without a cultivar name attached may not actually have one. Deciding it belonged to a cultivar it happened to resemble could be a mistake. A starting point would be to note if yours is grafted, that is a hint that it is almost certainly a named form (although I understand shade tree growers have been known to graft unnamed clonal forms of other kinds of trees to get uniformity...).

Look at JAPANESE MAPLES and MAPLES FOR GARDENS for some possible leads. Also visit nurseries and labeled collections within your area of access. Take representative shoots from yours to hold up against any similar ones you encounter.

I looked at your first picture, ordinary seedling foliage. Maybe the trident was grafted onto a Japanese maple seedling but died and left behind the rootstock to be grown on in its place, by mistake.

Another possibility is that it is one with special bark or other attribute that will become more apparent later.

This is not a trident.. trident leaves are so much larger..

What exactly is grafted.. I know its cutting of some sort.. he has about 10 of these trees and they all look the same, there is no way its a Trident

This is the maple forum correct. Where are the maple masters? Its not that I have to know the breed of JP Maple but would be nice to know what it is.. The store would also like to know.. anyone.. anyone? guesses are welcome too...Hogyoku is my best guess..

As have been said ....ABSOLUTE identification of any JM except for really unusaul ones is virtually impossible and even those since many variations may be presant...it would be at BEST be a "probable", "possible" or "likely" either somewhat or pretty....Yours is neither unusual or specific to any certain type and not being "planted" and grown could change dramatically over time making identification even more difficult ..If I were you I would give it a rest...yes there are experts here but they can not do miracles...David

Ok, I will let the seller know the devastating effects of not knowing what he is selling... ;)

He most likely bought 'em for a song if it was a closeout sale ...he can call 'em "very pretty nice maples of unknown renown..that won't cost you an arm or leg/branch"...or "mystery maple" or ..."you name it it's yours cheap" or "generic maple at a generic price"...I'm sure he'll do just fine ...he or she bought these going in full knowing they weren't taged I'm sure he aint no dummy and shouldn't have a problem living with the unknown...heck if you bought one I'm sure others will .Folks buy generic JM's on line all the time for NOT so cheap prices ..I mean seed grown non pedigreed JM's sometimes 30-40$$ for a three foot two year old bare root stick tree with out branches!!!...google up japanese red maple you can find them bare root sticks..... David

Looks very much like a seedling,
Hogyoku does not look like this.. is less deeply divided.

Yeah it was very cheap for the size, he labeled them Tridents but there is no way that these are Tridents, I have some JM twigs that were 45$ a piece.. My Crimson was the most expensive I think I paid 180$ but it was a good size, all my others were about a 100$ a piece, with the exception of my Bloodgoods, everyone sells them here so they are fairly cheap, maybe 50$ for a 2-3 footer.. My site has most the pics of what I have..

Here is a link that might be useful: My JM Maples Link