Why has my acer palmatum butterfly produced some large leaves?
By Deska
United Kingdom 
The plant is three years old and has produced two stems of large leaves. Do I just cut them off or should I do something else? It is in a Japanese style garden with slate ground cover and we are situated in South Yorkshire.
15 Sep, 2009
Answers
some plants with pale leaves will have a branch of deep green which as moongrower says will be more vigorous and in time overtake the shrub or tree, its usually because the green --not variegated or pale --have more chlorophyll my euonymus emeraldn'gold does it if branches are in the shade
15 Sep, 2009
Agree with Moongrower - cut off as near the rootstock as possible, if its coming from the base of the plant.
15 Sep, 2009
Thank you for the advice. I hadn't thought about it being grafted. I have done as suggested and cut off the stems. There are still a few largish leaves still which I will keep an eye on.
22 Sep, 2009
It may not be grafted - the growers and breeders cross hybridize to produce new varieties - sometimes the new varieties revert to one or other of the original parents - remove all branches with larger leaves as they appear.
23 Sep, 2009
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Hi Deska and welcome to GoY your Acer has been grafted and these stems are growing from below the graft cut them off and keep a watch out for any others that grow - they will be far more vigorous than the scion.
15 Sep, 2009