I assume that is a Shigitatsu sawa as it looks like... then yes it looks perfect...take a look at the tag or back at the purchase info and post the name and post a picof the tree from the side a "sales" photo on gives a limited perspective ( IE: a photo is one that you see on ebay that makes the plant look fuller and GREAT and ya can't tell it's size or really how it looks ;>) )..David

On second look the leaves have alot of leaf tips possibly more than a Shigitasu sawa the pic is blurry and the leaves so close together and overlapping it's hard to tell if it is not and is some sort of full moon maple then i'd think you may have a "problem" but still a cool looking tree IMHO ..David

see... that shows my novice-ness in acers. I assumed that there was only one Acer sh 'Aureum' so I could skip looking up the spelling and take the lazy way out :-)

Sorry. It is A. shirasawanum 'Aureum'. I see nothing golden about the foliage. My gut tells me it isn't happy, but I really have no idea. Maybe too much time lurking on the hosta forum reading about HVX :-)

Oh, I thought I put "Aureum" in the subject but I see now I didn't. I first posted on the trees forum forgetting there was a maples forum. That posting said "Aureum". I've got to slow down and stop drinking so much coffee!!

OK that is what I thought after i looked closer at the leaves SORRY!! I think I had too much coffee too ;>) ... I am NOT an expert on this plant and it is a touchy one to grow successfully and one I never recommend for a novice ... but I think upon looking at varias images ( which most are of course the fall or bright spring color )yours may just be not getting enough sunlight to get that golden color thus showing more green with more visable veining( remembering too much sunlight will burn that baby to a crip thus the touchiness of growing it).It could be a fertilization problem but I don't think so..but I am not sure others with more successful ;>) experience with this cultivar will know more than I David

I already responded to your post on the Trees forum. The second photo you posted showing the spring color on the newly arrived plant looks much better, so I could very well be mistaken about an incorrect labeling problem. However, my personal experience with this tree and all the photos I've seen and all the established specimens I've seen show a much more distinctly golden color to the foliage, even on those grown in quite heavy shade. 'Chartreuse' is the term I'd use. I'm not sure I have an answer for you, although the veining does not cause me concern nearly as much as does the very "greenness" of your tree. I'd wait to see what happens in fall.

Trees definitly look differnt in differnt parts of the country although the basic form and color should be similar ...Of course GG is in a perfect JM growing area and I are not...Shade may effect the color more here and then there is soil and weather conditions...I think it is probable it is just normal for your area...or it may "grow" out of it ...My personal experiece with that tree is as GG says golden ( it came from the pacific NW), then "dead" brown, then brown bare branches, then grey black trunk, then a companion "planting" in my burn pile ;>) But I will agree with GG it is not like any I have seen pics of and is why on my rush from coffeedom before i noticed the leaf tips I thought it was a AP Shigitatsu sawa ... David

I'm not a maple expert, but I do live sort of in your neck of the woods. My 'Aureum' gets no direct sun at all and is a very bright chartreuse to gold in all foliar seasons. I think you must have something else.

I have had a golden full moon maple for 2 years and the foliage has always been yellow, not green. You may have a different cultivar. Here is a photo of the leaves, you can see it is the same color as the yellow poppies. This is a blurry photo but it does show the color well.

Here's a better photo that is not so blurry. Karen

I think it is A. shirasawanum, but not the Aureum cultivar. One scenario is that the graft failed years ago and the leaves we see sprouted from the rootstock. This is kind of unlikely as A. shirasawanum is usually grafted onto A. palmatum rather than itself.

Another scenario that this was grown from seed and is technically "A. shirasawanum from Aureum" but not A. shirasawanum 'Aureum'. This seems a more likely scenario. Many of the supposed 'bloodgoods' and so forth seen in retail stores are actually grown from seed and should more properly be termed something like "A. palmatum var. purpureum" as they are not cultivars at all.

Some older sources consider A. shirasawanum to be a variety of A. japonicum rather than a separate species (whether they are wrong or not is a matter of discussion). Accordingly, this specimin could also be an A. japonicum or some hybrid.

Until scientists really map the genome of these plants, their taxonomic classifications are really more a matter of custom and debate than biology. I have several "not quite identified" maples that look great and bring me enjoyment. You have an attractive plant there and I hope it brings you joy as well.