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first off "coral bark " is a generic sort of name ..the early version is the sango kaku if I am not mistaken ... there are other cultivars ..newer...that are also designated as "coral bark" If yours was marked Sango Kaku it is most likely mislabeled ( very comon).. there may be some weeping coral barks but I am not aware of any but I am NOT a coral bark freak so I may be wrong and there is one or some!!... others here should know....I do NOT think envormental conditions could cause this ..I am pretty sure of THAT!!!Is the bark on the new shoots bright red??? if not then you definitly have something else ..sounds more like a omurayama by your description but it will have GREEN not red branches...post pic if you can figure out how ( good luck) and /or give better description ...David

I might add that I have a japanese sunrise which is considered a coral bark ..it has red to yellow new branches and sort of weeps but just sort of more bendy than weepy from new branches growing a bit too fast... it is about 5.5 ft tall though and obviously much younger..I would NOT expect it to be so weepy (from the photos I've seen) in a few years as it grows, but it looks to have a fairly large potential canapy..David

Mine does this. I just trim it.

We planted our coral bark Japanese Maple about 38 years ago and this is the first time that my husband and I have noticed these long weepy leafed stems growing mostly from the North East side of the tree. It is mid August here in the Pacific Northwest U.S.