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A Newsletter by the City of Saco, Maine	June, 2005	Return to newsletter index

Trees in Saco

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Many of you may have noticed that there are some problems with certain trees in the City. This problem is especially pronounced in the Norway Maples - Acer schwedleri platanoides, associated cultivars of this species, and other maples such as Sugar and Silver Maples. We have many of these types of trees in our City. The problem is a fungus called anthracnose, which is caused by humid weather. Unfortunately, excessive moisture has been a major problem this spring.

Anthracnose is manifested by the irregular dead areas on leaf margins, between and across and/or along veins, often moving onto the shoots and small twigs; sometimes whole leaves are engulfed. A secondary problem can be aphids, which attack the infected leaves and create sticky honeydew on the leaves where dark sooty mold can form as a result. These conditions are usually not fatal to the trees and most trees will recover from this affliction within a year or so. Many types of trees can stand complete defoliation (removal of leaves) with no permanent damage. Once Anthracnose has affected a tree there is no immediate cure for the symptoms, which can often be quite ugly, but are like sunburn that will get better with time. Most trees will come out of this with no future problems, however several years of the same spring conditions may weaken a tree to the point it cannot survive.