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.
Sweet gum tree leaf spot. Masuzi february 15 2020 uncategorized 0. 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. 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. 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.
Leaf spot on poplar maple sweetgum walter reeves the. Sweet gum tree leaf spot. 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. This tree may also be found in mixed woodlands.
When you spot a defect on the tree or its leaves identify the disease and then take steps to resolve it. Cercospora is the most common of the many diseases of a sweet gum tree according to the florida department of agriculture and consumer services. 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. Rake up and destroy infected leaves to help control if there are no adjacent sweetgum to add inoculum.
The tree is an active member of the flowering plant. 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. Leaf spots of various types may attack sweetgum causing premature defoliation but are not serious. 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.
It hails from the altingiaceae family tree belonging to the saxifragales order. Leader dieback on established trees in the southern u s. Leaf diseases do not affect all trees but it is very noticeable on the ones it does strike. May be due to lack of moisture and or construction injury.
Leaf spot on poplar maple sweetgum neil sperry answers your garden problems with a sweet gum tree thriftyfun sweet gum sweetgum gumball tree. Black and brown spots on sweetgum leaves can signal a systemic problem with the tree that. Sweetgum redgum star leaved gum alligator wood and gumtree habitat. I m sure the weeks of hot and humid weather in july and early august caused the problems.
The problem on your sweetgum tree is either sweetgum anthracnose gloeosporium nervisequum or sweetgum leaf spot cercospora liquidambaris. Some people refer to these leaves as having a star form or a maple like silhouette.