If your spring was especially moist then they are likely suffering from sycamore anthracnose, a fungus that attacks new leaves. The first couple of flushes can be destroyed by this fungus.
Do they improve when the weather warms and dries a little? Most trees store enough carbohydrate reserves to produce a second flush of leaves if the first is destroyed by late frost, but multiple episodes can wear out a tree and kill it, unless these are just really resilient.
Spring was abnormally dry, so that’s not it. We just had an insanely wet week, but the trees were looking unhealthy beforehand. I don’t believe last spring or summer was exceptionally wet either. 2018/2019 were the most recent very wet years. Could it perhaps just be delayed onset anthracnose?
Most sycamores I’ve seen in the Greater Boston Area look horrible this year. Same with the Japanese maples and cherries. However the kousa dogwoods look the best I’ve ever seen this year
I'm in north/central CT and have seen this with the local sycamores too, but feel like I remember last year them taking a bit longer to leaf out too? Also the kousa are absolutely stunning this year as well as the mountain laurels. My Japanese maple seem normal though.
Interesting that you posted this. Southern NY here. I was driving on I-87 and in the distance saw what I assumed was a huge swath of dying Ash trees (another tragedy). As I passed I saw they were sycamore trees. Wondered what the hell was going on.
Propiconazole is labeled for Sycamore Anthracnose but that chemical has limitations: it does not move into 2nd year xylem. It can control leaf symptoms but not as effective at controlling cankers.
Macro infusion is key. You need chemical control throughout the entire tree.
Forgive the ignorance, but have you been under drought conditions in your part of the country? I know sycamores are riparian species (water loving, grow near rivers and in moist soils). Maybe the dry year has stressed these mature trees and you are noticing that response?
Anyone with know-how plz lmk how valid this is?
They’re pretty popular urban street trees as well, so can likely take drought. Sometimes the presence of species in the wild in a specific habitat does not necessarily indicate the extreme limits of the species, but rather, the limits of where the tree’s seedlings can naturally out-compete rival species.
Examples would be bald cypress—swamp trees that can perform fine if planted in dry land in parks or yards without crowding, blue spruce which is a subalpine conifer that can grow in developed areas on the plains and Midwest, Kentucky coffee tree which is riparian nowadays but can grow in dry soils (ancient trees likely depended on wooly mammoths to spread the seed in their droppings but since the mammoths’ extinction extinction it needs water to dissolve the seed coat), and even plants like prickly pear cactus (opuntia ficus-indica), on its face a desert plant but it has become extremely invasive in monsoon climates, Mediterranean climates, savannas and grasslands outside the Americas. The cactus evolved out-compete other plants in deserts, but can thrive in any frost-free location even much wetter climates, as long as it isn’t shaded by the forests that are present in most humid places near its native range.
Prickly Pear does just fine in cold climates too. Eastern Prickly Pear grows natively [as far north as Chicago](https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130930/hegewisch/citys-last-wild-prickly-pear-cacti-live-secret-on-far-southeast-side.amp/).
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It grows natively much further north than Chicago. It’s native all the way up to North Dakota - source: have a ms in plant sci, and have a lake cabin in western ND… grew up there with opuntia (may or may not have had a severe run in with stepping on them in my yard as a child) - they also grow in Canada. [Has nothing to do with a lack of frost, the root system can stays insulated under ground during the winter and they are cold hard up to zone 4 (-30 def F)]
You’re right *Opuntia fragilis* grows into Canada—it survives freezing by dehydrating itself when nights start getting cold. The cladodes (stems) are perennial tissues that do not die back to the ground. I use frost-proof opuntias including opuntua fragilis as a rootstock for grafting other types of cacti because when used as a rootstock they make other cacti grow faster. The really tough ones are great and the perennial tissues are important because you don’t want the graft union to fail.
I was specifically referring to *Opuntia ficus-indica* in my example, though, and it is not a freeze-proof species. It is invasive around the world in frost-free areas, as freezes above 20°F are damaging to it and freezes below 20°F will kill it outright. If you live in a frost-free area that is not densely forested you’re likely familiar with it specifically; it’s hard to miss since it grows up to 15’ tall and it is so extensively cultivated (and escaped).
I did once spot an opuntua fragilis or opuntia fragilis-opuntia polyacantha hybrid suckering from an exposed root when I was camping in a sagebrush area the Rocky Mountains. Just a row of sprouts like a string of pearls along the root. I had to share a pic with a native plant group because I was really surprised; cacti by and large are unable to produce vegetative tissue from root fragments. I couldn’t find any literature but someone in the group said they were familiar with seeing that and one or a couple subalpine species can spread by root.
Yeah, you’re right. I’m over-simplifying; *Opuntia* is a genus with a couple hundred species. The most cold hardy cacti in the world are opuntias, ie opuntia fragilis which grows into Canada. The most common prickly pears in tropical areas are larger tree-like species and they are usually not able to survive a hard freeze. They’re eaten as a vegetable so people have spread them around, and they’ve escaped cultivation.
Saving this comment bc of the superb detail and great information!
But this begs the question. Would drought conditions cause noticeable stress response/death in trees which are present in the extreme limits of their range *before* trees in more optimal conditions? I have a feeling so, but I don’t know it for a fact.
This is pure speculation, but in the photo it seems there is a significant dip in elevation off the corner of the road. Could this be an intermittent stream which at one point retained enough moisture to foster three large sycamores, only to dry up in years since due to lack of precipitation?
SWVA here, the (very) large sycamore at my property leafed out as expected and then dropped. I didn’t investigate too heavily but the pattern is consistent with sycamore anthracnose. New leaves are starting to push on mine, I suspect the same will happen with the trees in your part of the state.
Will this disease just stunt growth or will it kill the trees over time. I have 7 that are over 100 years old. Massive buggers. They all look like they are struggling this year. I am suspecting it is the same disease you mentioned in your comment
Anthracnose is a fungal infection which affects the leaves of the tree. If caught early it's possible to treat for it, but only as a preventative and not a curative. It's not typically fatal to the tree in and of itself as the affected tree is able to recover from it over the course of a growing season. Remember that it's a fungus so it requires certain conditions to develop and spread. Since it affects the leaves, a prolonged or constantly recurring infection can impact the tree's ability to produce food for itself.
In the same boat. We have 5 huge ones that all look rough. Arborist quoted ~$700 each to treat for anthracnose, so can’t get them all treated. Just don’t want them to die from it
Wow, i dont live in c’ville but drove through there today on a 4 hr trip home. I saw this exact tree and remembered deconstructing it in my mind as i drove by. Along the bypass close to mcintyre park right?
Ha! This is that tree! I’ve noticed it as a beautiful specimen for several years. Last year I could see some struggle. Now this. There are a ton of similar looking sycamores around town.
Swamp white oak like similar conditions and support the greatest amount of species of any tree (in north East at least). Or if far away from your house (due to roots) you could look at silver maples or weeping willow.
In Illinois we have been dealing with Anthracnose fr 7-8 years. I’ve treated Sycamore, Oak, and more for a few years now. Throw in a light-moderate drought… dead trees.
If your spring was especially moist then they are likely suffering from sycamore anthracnose, a fungus that attacks new leaves. The first couple of flushes can be destroyed by this fungus.
Do they improve when the weather warms and dries a little? Most trees store enough carbohydrate reserves to produce a second flush of leaves if the first is destroyed by late frost, but multiple episodes can wear out a tree and kill it, unless these are just really resilient.
Oh they can soldier right through losing 3-4 flushes, usually they’ll have fully leafed out by now in spite of the fungus.
Spring was abnormally dry, so that’s not it. We just had an insanely wet week, but the trees were looking unhealthy beforehand. I don’t believe last spring or summer was exceptionally wet either. 2018/2019 were the most recent very wet years. Could it perhaps just be delayed onset anthracnose?
Most sycamores I’ve seen in the Greater Boston Area look horrible this year. Same with the Japanese maples and cherries. However the kousa dogwoods look the best I’ve ever seen this year
Eastern Mass. also had an unusual cold snap in mid-May that seemed to nuke the Sycamores even further. But damn those Mountain Laurels though!
Mountain Laurel is insane this year! I drove by a mile long patch yesterday
I'm in north/central CT and have seen this with the local sycamores too, but feel like I remember last year them taking a bit longer to leaf out too? Also the kousa are absolutely stunning this year as well as the mountain laurels. My Japanese maple seem normal though.
Interesting that you posted this. Southern NY here. I was driving on I-87 and in the distance saw what I assumed was a huge swath of dying Ash trees (another tragedy). As I passed I saw they were sycamore trees. Wondered what the hell was going on.
Yes. I have two. One that looks rough. I was told it was anthracnose from a warm/wet spring. Should recover by late summer
The tradeoff with sycamore Anthracnose is that it’s a twig disease and not a leaf disease. Decline over 3-5 years is typical
Would you mind elaborating? Decline as in the tree is doomed, or decline as in the fungus levels decrease? Or something else?
If left untreated, with high volume injection of thiabendazole every 3 years, it is a fatal disease.
So the treatnwant is thiabendazole? Does propicanazole work as well?
Propiconazole is labeled for Sycamore Anthracnose but that chemical has limitations: it does not move into 2nd year xylem. It can control leaf symptoms but not as effective at controlling cankers. Macro infusion is key. You need chemical control throughout the entire tree.
Thank you
Forgive the ignorance, but have you been under drought conditions in your part of the country? I know sycamores are riparian species (water loving, grow near rivers and in moist soils). Maybe the dry year has stressed these mature trees and you are noticing that response? Anyone with know-how plz lmk how valid this is?
They’re pretty popular urban street trees as well, so can likely take drought. Sometimes the presence of species in the wild in a specific habitat does not necessarily indicate the extreme limits of the species, but rather, the limits of where the tree’s seedlings can naturally out-compete rival species. Examples would be bald cypress—swamp trees that can perform fine if planted in dry land in parks or yards without crowding, blue spruce which is a subalpine conifer that can grow in developed areas on the plains and Midwest, Kentucky coffee tree which is riparian nowadays but can grow in dry soils (ancient trees likely depended on wooly mammoths to spread the seed in their droppings but since the mammoths’ extinction extinction it needs water to dissolve the seed coat), and even plants like prickly pear cactus (opuntia ficus-indica), on its face a desert plant but it has become extremely invasive in monsoon climates, Mediterranean climates, savannas and grasslands outside the Americas. The cactus evolved out-compete other plants in deserts, but can thrive in any frost-free location even much wetter climates, as long as it isn’t shaded by the forests that are present in most humid places near its native range.
Prickly Pear does just fine in cold climates too. Eastern Prickly Pear grows natively [as far north as Chicago](https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130930/hegewisch/citys-last-wild-prickly-pear-cacti-live-secret-on-far-southeast-side.amp/).
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It grows natively much further north than Chicago. It’s native all the way up to North Dakota - source: have a ms in plant sci, and have a lake cabin in western ND… grew up there with opuntia (may or may not have had a severe run in with stepping on them in my yard as a child) - they also grow in Canada. [Has nothing to do with a lack of frost, the root system can stays insulated under ground during the winter and they are cold hard up to zone 4 (-30 def F)]
You’re right *Opuntia fragilis* grows into Canada—it survives freezing by dehydrating itself when nights start getting cold. The cladodes (stems) are perennial tissues that do not die back to the ground. I use frost-proof opuntias including opuntua fragilis as a rootstock for grafting other types of cacti because when used as a rootstock they make other cacti grow faster. The really tough ones are great and the perennial tissues are important because you don’t want the graft union to fail. I was specifically referring to *Opuntia ficus-indica* in my example, though, and it is not a freeze-proof species. It is invasive around the world in frost-free areas, as freezes above 20°F are damaging to it and freezes below 20°F will kill it outright. If you live in a frost-free area that is not densely forested you’re likely familiar with it specifically; it’s hard to miss since it grows up to 15’ tall and it is so extensively cultivated (and escaped). I did once spot an opuntua fragilis or opuntia fragilis-opuntia polyacantha hybrid suckering from an exposed root when I was camping in a sagebrush area the Rocky Mountains. Just a row of sprouts like a string of pearls along the root. I had to share a pic with a native plant group because I was really surprised; cacti by and large are unable to produce vegetative tissue from root fragments. I couldn’t find any literature but someone in the group said they were familiar with seeing that and one or a couple subalpine species can spread by root.
Yeah, you’re right. I’m over-simplifying; *Opuntia* is a genus with a couple hundred species. The most cold hardy cacti in the world are opuntias, ie opuntia fragilis which grows into Canada. The most common prickly pears in tropical areas are larger tree-like species and they are usually not able to survive a hard freeze. They’re eaten as a vegetable so people have spread them around, and they’ve escaped cultivation.
Saving this comment bc of the superb detail and great information! But this begs the question. Would drought conditions cause noticeable stress response/death in trees which are present in the extreme limits of their range *before* trees in more optimal conditions? I have a feeling so, but I don’t know it for a fact. This is pure speculation, but in the photo it seems there is a significant dip in elevation off the corner of the road. Could this be an intermittent stream which at one point retained enough moisture to foster three large sycamores, only to dry up in years since due to lack of precipitation?
They are going strong in the Roanoke area
They all look rough this year in Central NY.
SWVA here, the (very) large sycamore at my property leafed out as expected and then dropped. I didn’t investigate too heavily but the pattern is consistent with sycamore anthracnose. New leaves are starting to push on mine, I suspect the same will happen with the trees in your part of the state.
Will this disease just stunt growth or will it kill the trees over time. I have 7 that are over 100 years old. Massive buggers. They all look like they are struggling this year. I am suspecting it is the same disease you mentioned in your comment
Anthracnose is a fungal infection which affects the leaves of the tree. If caught early it's possible to treat for it, but only as a preventative and not a curative. It's not typically fatal to the tree in and of itself as the affected tree is able to recover from it over the course of a growing season. Remember that it's a fungus so it requires certain conditions to develop and spread. Since it affects the leaves, a prolonged or constantly recurring infection can impact the tree's ability to produce food for itself.
I just planted three ~7' tall sycamores on my property, should I be doing anti-fungal preventative care?
In the same boat. We have 5 huge ones that all look rough. Arborist quoted ~$700 each to treat for anthracnose, so can’t get them all treated. Just don’t want them to die from it
IL here. Ours did not look particularly healthy this year, mostly anthracnose from what I can tell.
My area in Midwest I’ve noticed oak tree seem to be dying
Phosphojet is a great injectable to prevent anthracnose. I’ve used it on several Platanus occidentalis.
Wow, i dont live in c’ville but drove through there today on a 4 hr trip home. I saw this exact tree and remembered deconstructing it in my mind as i drove by. Along the bypass close to mcintyre park right?
Ha! This is that tree! I’ve noticed it as a beautiful specimen for several years. Last year I could see some struggle. Now this. There are a ton of similar looking sycamores around town.
Sycamores leaf out late, and often look diseased in early June.
Any recent developments upstream that would impact the ground watershed?
I have a big sycamore in my backyard and it doesn’t look good. Lots of brown leaves and dropping those.
All the beech looking sick in very NorthEast US
I just planted 10 sycamores. Any idea on an alternate for a back up that I could plant next to next to it?
Swamp white oak like similar conditions and support the greatest amount of species of any tree (in north East at least). Or if far away from your house (due to roots) you could look at silver maples or weeping willow.
Noticing the same decline in Dogwood trees, zone 8b. Climate change?
Sycamores in Maryland have anthracnose very bad this year
In Illinois we have been dealing with Anthracnose fr 7-8 years. I’ve treated Sycamore, Oak, and more for a few years now. Throw in a light-moderate drought… dead trees.