Sweet Gum Tree Leaf Spot

Masuzi february 15 2020 uncategorized 0.

Sweet gum tree leaf spot. Leaf diseases do not affect all trees but it is very noticeable on the ones it does strike. This list includes sycamore yellow poplar and sweetgum trees. Most leaf spot diseases need either water on the leaves or very high humidity for a prolonged period of time 12 to 24 hours to start an infection. This tree may also be found in mixed woodlands.

Sweetgum is a pioneer species often found after an area has been logged or clearcut and one of the most common tree species in the eastern united states. Rake up and destroy infected leaves to help control if there are no adjacent sweetgum to add inoculum. Leader dieback on established trees in the southern u s. Like the maple tree these species have leaves whose ribs or veins radiate out from a single stalk or petiole attachment in a palmate pattern that is the lobes resemble a set of fingers.

Black and brown spots on sweetgum leaves can signal a systemic problem with the tree that. I m sure the weeks of hot and humid weather in july and early august caused the problems. The imperfect fungus dicarpella dryina sutton is a leaf parasite reported to occur on a wide range of host plants including species of sweet gum liquidambar styraciflua l. Mature leaf spots produce spores or bacteria that can be spread throughout the canopy which can start a second set of leaf spots or cause new infections on other plants.

Leaf spot on poplar maple sweetgum walter reeves the. Cercospora is the most common of the many diseases of a sweet gum tree according to the florida department of agriculture and consumer services. Sweet gum tree leaf spot. Limber and cash reported that leaf spots produced by this pathogen on several different genera of forest trees were 2 5 mm diameter with regular margins.

The problem on your sweetgum tree is either sweetgum anthracnose gloeosporium nervisequum or sweetgum leaf spot cercospora liquidambaris. In scientific nomenclature the sweet gum tree is called liquidambar styraciflua this name was derived from the tree s innate property of secreting a resin like substance. Cercospora is a fungal spot disease that produces dark brown bordered angular to circular spots 2 to 10 mm in diameter on both sides of leaves. Some people refer to these leaves as having a star form or a maple like silhouette.

Leaf spots of various types may attack sweetgum causing premature defoliation but are not serious. When you spot a defect on the tree or its leaves identify the disease and then take steps to resolve it. It hails from the altingiaceae family tree belonging to the saxifragales order. Sweetgum grows in moist soils of valleys and lower sloped areas.

The tree is an active member of the flowering plant. May be due to lack of moisture and or construction injury.