Also anyone know where i can get grow tubes? similar to the clear tubes i used above.

I would say you have not been duped, these are very likely the seedlings of red Japanese maples. As you noted, these plants can be very variable when grown from seed, in terms of size, shape, colour, form etc.

The amount of red in the leaf colour also varies with light intensity in red JMs, many will green out in less than ideal light. You will have a better idea as to these young trees' true colour when you get them outside in some sunshine next summer.

It is hard to be positive from photographs but they look like seedlings of Acer palmatum subsp. matsumurae (AKA Acer matsumurae), the group which the dissectums come from. The leaf shape is quite variable at this stage and will change somewhat as the plant grows, what is seen now can be regarded as an indicator as to the mature leaf shape, not the actual shape.

First, the dissectums have their own classification (Group 4, Dissectums; not Group 3, Matsumurae). And second, seedling-grown Japanese maples can be extremely variable. Seeds obtained from a red leaf dissectum will not necessarily bear any resemblance to the parent tree -- they might (or at least some of them might), but no guarantees.

You do have Japanese maple seedlings - exactly what these will turn out to look like once they have some maturity is pretty much up in the air at this point. You may have some with dissected foliage but others with more traditionally lobed leaves. Some may show varying shades of red foliage; others may be completely green.

It is all part of the attraction of growing something from seed....you are never perfectly certain what you will get :-)

Your "annual" is a dianthus, probably a half-hardy perennial Dianthus barbatus and it is in the same family as carnations. And yes, they take quite easily from cuttings.

"First, the dissectums have their own classification (Group 4, Dissectums; not Group 3, Matsumurae)."

These numbered groups are not really very helpful and seem to confuse some people. The Dissectums are a subgroup of the subspecies (or species) matsumurae. All of the dissectum cultivars are therefore also included within matsumurae.

I am not sure why these widely accepted classifications of Acer palmatum would necessarily be considered confusing. They break down the hundreds (thousands) of known cultivars according to habit/size/leaf shape and form. They certainly are much more meaningful to the average consumer than references just to subspecies. For example, seeds obtained from the Dissectum group would be expected to produce a much more uniform dissected leaf structure than would those of the Matsumurae group.

Hi gardengal, we are not really disagreeing on facts, more like terminology.

The groups you are referring to are those proposed by the van Gelderens in their excellent book, "Maples for Gardens". These particular groups are not universally accepted by all Japanese maple experts, and are perhaps best viewed as a guideline rather than a rigid structure.

In the west we refer to Acer palmatum as an all inclusive term but in Japan, where these plants come from, they are regarded as three species, palmatum, amoenum and matsumurae.

Regardless of this all dissectum cultivars are also matsumurae. In the van Gelderen book it is made quite clear that groups 3 and 4 both belong to the subspecies matsumurae.