Sycamores dying in large numbers

[treebucker]

Took pictures but too much trouble to reduce them so they can be posted here so I'll try to describe...

I've been watching an excessive number of sycamores dying back from their tops. The decline may kill the tree the 1st year it or it may leave the lower limbs alive and epicormic budding starts heavily on the lower part of the tree. The countryside is littered with dead and dying trees. In some areas all the sycamore trees in a panoramic view will be dead, dying or recovering from the loss of their crowns. But there are clusters of trees that seem to be unaffected. Anyone heard of a disease killing sycamores in large numbers?

[SwampDonkey]

Do you notice crown die back in May-June? You sure it's not a defoliator like gypsy moth? I don't know how sycamore response to insect defoliation or how many infestations the tree can stand. I'm not familiar enough with sycamore to give an informative response here.

This may help diagnose a disease

Or Over here

Hypoxylin canker and other cankers will cause die back and this is one disease of sycamore. It basically girdles the tree. It's very very common in aspen up my way. Botryosphaeria canker and Massaria canker will also infect sycamore causing dieback.

Aspen and the army worm are due for a cycle here sometime soon. Last was 25 years ago when all the aspen was defoliated for 3 years running before the die off of the army worm. The aspen usually leaved back out in mid summer and I don't remember it killing the aspen because we had some very large aspen we cut 3 or 4 years after and some were left until this day and are now dying from old age.

[treebucker]

Gypsy moth haven't made it this far...yet. I haven't heard of army and aspen worms being a problem around here. The die back in the crowns is complete. It seems as if the leaves are scarce at first. Then the next year either the whole tree of just the crown is dead. I thought about the drought we had back in '99, but I've noticed more dead trees around streams that didn't dry up during the drought than anywhere else. I didn't look at this problem until it became so noticable that the cause may have come and gone without me noticing it. And since it began in the crowns it was far away from close inspection/notice.

[SwampDonkey]

Added a little tid bit about the cankers in my previous post. It sounds like some kind of girdling canker if it's not an insect.

[SwampDonkey]

I find second growth aspen to be more infested with girdling cankers up here. But, it may be the fact that those young stands of aspen start out so thick and this is just another means to thin them out, besides being shade intolerant. More noticeable I guess when you can observe a short lived tree develop over your life time.  This is one reason I don't thin aspen with brush saws, they are self thinning in one way or another.  ;)

Still doesn't help your situation though. 

[SwampDonkey]

Gypsy moth haven't made it this far...yet. I haven't heard of army and aspen worms being a problem around here.

I meant the army worms feed on our aspen. They probably would eat sycamore to if you had them. They ate apple tree foliage and birch as well during the infestation. Didn't seem to bother the hardwood.

[TexasTimbers]

I wonder how many tree species have gone extinct or nearly to it? American Chestnut is the only one I know about. If the Red Oaks keep dying like they are around here they will not be around much longer either.

I hope we don't lose the Sycs. They are beautiful trees I love looking at them. Don't mind cutting them either.

[treebucker]

I wonder how many tree species have gone extinct or nearly to it? American Chestnut is the only one I know about. If the Red Oaks keep dying like they are around here they will not be around much longer either.

I hope we don't lose the Sycs. They are beautiful trees I love looking at them. Don't mind cutting them either.

I've got a bad feeling about this. I hope it's just a local phenomena and not something bigger. We always treated sycamores like weeds. They weren't any good for firewood or fence posts and, until recently, you couldn't sell a log from it.  But since getting a sawmill I look at them in a different light. I will be watching for this problem to see just how far it has spread.  I didn't bother taking pictures of the dead ones.  I wish some of the experts here could see some pictures of the dying/recovering trees.

[Furby]

If it's too much trouble for you to post pics, how do you expect folks to take time to answer your question?
SwampDonkey just spent more time typing out those replies then it takes to post pics.

Instructions are under the help button at the top of the page.
If you need any help, lots of us are willing to take the time to help! ;)

[WDH]

What you are seeing is the effects of anthracnose.  It is a common disease of sycamore.  

"Sycamore is subject to attacks of anthracnose in wet, cool springs. The disease causes moderate to severe leaf drop and many trees are removed with this disease each year in our major cities."

"Anthracnose (when present) often afflicts the same trees year after year, while other trees of the species may go relatively unscathed in most years; however, the disease is most devasting in Springs which are above average in rainfall, or in microclimates where air circulation is poor (such as in areas where surrounding trees are dense and/or the lower Sycamore branches are close to the ground)."

"A serious problem with all species of Platanus is anthracnose. Infection causes defoliation, then the shoot tips die, leaving many small twigs at the ends of the branches."

Here is more info.  Anthracnose is a fungal disease of hardwoods.  Not much you can do about it.

http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/fidls/anthracnose_east/fidl-ae.htm

[TexasTimbers]

For my eye they are one of the most beautiful trees to look at. I like the way the bark gets white. The leaves are just too cool in shape,  and the leaf color is so pretty. Their overall shape is majestic. When they get real big they stand out amongst the others for me. Just hope this does not spread we have thousands of them just in our little town that were planted in the post war building boom and they would surely leave an empty hole in the townscape.

[SwampDonkey]

I'm with ya Kev, I wish they grew up here. I like the bark and the leaves are kind of like maples.

[Jeff]

You beat me to it Furb.

[Dodgy Loner]

WDH is probably right, sounds like anthracnose to me.  We've had a lot of the sycamores on the UGA campus (in Athens, Georgia) die of the disease, but I haven't noticed any die-offs in forested areas.  It seems to prefer the sycamores in open locations, for some reason - at least around here.

[WDH]

Especially street trees.  Or those with a lot of paving around them.

[Dodgy Loner]

That's probably the main factor.  All of these sycamores resided in a sea of concrete :-\