I sure hope my fireglow only gets to 12' or I'm in trouble. My neighbor has a Bloodgood which is around 15' and just keeps growing. From my understanding the Fireglow hits about 8' and slows wayyy down. Here's mine

Nice little tree you have there! 'Bloodgood' grows to 25' if I'm not mistaken.

I found that the foilage of 'Fireglow' isn't as divided so maybe I can check that way. Another giveaway is that the foilage is supposed to be more red. Although, this speciman (the only one there, and I can't find them anywhere around here) was strange because the lower half of the leaves where reddish and the upper half where more purple.

The underside of my fireglow leaves are more of a glowing red than my neighbors bloodgood.

I would not count any any of these to remain so small. Until 25' for 'Bloodgood' was mentioned doubling the figures being thrown out would be more like it.

'Bloodgood' is known to grow over 30' tall. Here in western USDA 8 30' red Japanese maples are not real rare on old enough planting sites. One at Lakewold Gardens, for instance was measured as bring 39' tall with an average crown spread of 45' during 1990.

Is it possible for a plant to be labelled incorrectly?

I have 2 labelled BG, but one is certainly more vibrant red than the other. I'll admit the dark red or wine red BG is starting to appear more vibrant red like the other, especially on new growth (and has been in the ground 1 year less).

Since either are on opposite corners of my yard, I'd hate to have one very large and the other, small :)

Non-true seedlings have been sold at times as 'Bloodgood'. I've seen batches of "Bloodgood" here that included ones that were nearly green. The true item should have a tall, comparatively narrow and erect habit, with dark, pretty deeply divided leaves.

Grows 15'-25' tall

-- North American Landscape Trees (1996, Ten Speed Press, Berkeley)

A treelike shrub reaching 10-12 m (33-39 feet) or occasionally more, rather sparsely branched

-- Maples for Gardens - A Color Encyclopedia (1999, Timber Press, Portland)

A strong-growing shrub, reaching 5m (15ft) high

-- The Gardener's Guide to Growing Maples (2000, David & Charles, Newtown Abbot/Timber Press, Portland)

This strong growing cultivar makes an upright tree maturing at up to 10 m or so

-- Japanese Maples - Third Edition (2001, Timber Press, Portland)

This is all fascinating.

I have a newly planted red leafed Japanese Maple that was a really good price and a great size. It is only labeled as Atropurpureum. No Bloodgood, no Fireglow, no Emperor 1. It is lovely, vigorous. It's been in the ground since mid-April and leafed out very early, already putting out 1-2 feet of growth in a vase like habit. It is already topping 6-7 feet, though it is very whip like as it was grown so quickly as a seedling.

Spring color was vibrant red, it has thus cooled into it's bronzy-green with red still at the ends that are growing.

It is quite stunning while being quite young; I just wish it could have a name I could attach to it :)

Seedlings don't have cultivar names (or shouldn't). The "atropurpurea" designation is often assigned to distinguish red leaf seedlings from green leaf one but they are both just generic species Acer palmatums.

gg,

Fireglow, Emperor 1 and Bloodgood are just sports of Atropurpurea correct?

The whole "atropurpureum" (not atropurpurea like I mistakenly typed) thing is an ongoing topic of discussion. Some sources list 'Atropurpureum' as a distinct cultivar; others consider it a varietal or species variation only. Right or wrong, it is a term often applied to redleaf seedlings without any other cultivar designation. And has been watered down to the point where its application towards anything other than a no-name red leafed seedling is meaningless.

So I can't really answer your question very specifically :-) Yes, 'Bloodgood' is a selected variety of "atropurpureum".....you will sometimes still see it listed as Acer palmatum var. atropurpureum 'Bloodgood'. Origins of the other two are less defined -- EI is recorded as a 'chance seedling' but of what?? Typically 'Bloodgood' is considered the parent plant as this tree was on the market for a number of years as "Improved Bloodgood I" before the name was officially changed to 'Emperor I'. Exact parentage of 'Fireglow' is also somewhat murky. In the classification of J. maples, all are included in the Amoenum Atropurpureum group.

Forma atropurpureum covers any and all otherwise normal Japanese maple trees with red or purple leaves. If you ever see atropurpureum 'Bloodgood' and the like being used, this is where that application of atropurpureum would be coming from.

There is also a clonal cultivar 'Atropurpureum' (with superior characteristics) that was selected in The Netherlands sometime before 1910. Giving this clone a different name would distinguish it from all the other forms, both seed-raised and clonal being referred to as atropurpureum or 'Atropurpureum' in books and catalog listings etc. But then everyone would have to know that the new name referred to the 1910 clone from The Netherlands.

High hopes! We are planting our new Red Emperor next week after a Bloodgood failure ...

I picked up a Atropurpureum marked at $12.95 at a local nursery that were selling the same size bloodgoods for $42.95. Guess which one I bought :).

I have it planted in my front yard opposite end of my Emperor 1 . They both get full sun. In between them I have a Bihou and Sango Kaku.

My 'Red Emperor' is a faster grower than my 2 'Fireglows' and slower than my 3 'Bloodgoods.' I had an Atropurpureum that I dearly loved. Darker leaves than the others. It couldn't take sun at all. Scorched right away. My other 3 varieties are in full sun and so far, thriving. 'Fireglow's' leaves, when the sun shines through them is fabulous. Near a 'Trompenburg,' which has much darker leaves.

They all look amazing over spirea..

Please check my article to find more information about the differences between these two maples - Fireglow vs Bloodgood Japanese Maple: Are They Similar?