My Tree Looks Sick | Most Common Tree Diseases in Atlanta

Oak Leaf Blister

Oak leaves begin to show chlorotic, blister-like areas on the upper surface that can be as large as one-half inch in diameter. The lower surface has gray depressions that correspond to the raised blisters

Anthracnose

Blighting causes leaves and shoots to brown and shrivel. Young leaves become cupped or distorted with necrotic lesions. Large lesions often follow leaf veins or are delimited by leaf veins.

Tubakia Leaf Spot

Symptoms caused by Tubakia are brown or reddish brown blotches on the leaves. Premature leaf drop and twig cankers are common if the trees are severely infected. Spots are well-defined on young leaves and enlarge to necrotic blotches on older leaves. Small fungal fruiting bodies can be seen within the lesions

Bacterial Leaf Scorch

Symptoms of bacterial leaf scorch are described as marginal leaf burn and are very similar to drought stress symptoms. In addition to marginal leaf burn, there is a defined reddish or yellow border separating the necrosis from green tissue

Hypoxylon Canker

Yellowing and wilting of leaves often related to physiological stress may be the first symptom of this disease. Fungal mats (stroma) will develop beneath the bark of infected trees. Bark will begin to slough off due to pressure from the stroma beneath it. The bark is hard, tan to silver gray on the outside, and black within.

Bacterial Wetwood

A sour odor is often associated with wet wood as water-soaked wood with large numbers of dead bacteria begins to break down. The build-up of bacterial populations within the tree causes fermentation resulting in internal gas pressure

Armillaria Root Rot

There are several general symptoms that accompany Armillaria root disease, including crown dieback, growth reduction, premature leaf drop or death of the tree. Because these fungi commonly inhabit roots, their detection is difficult unless characteristic mushrooms are produced at the base of the tree

Seiridium Canker

Foliage on affected branches yellows and turns brown in the spring. A sunken canker can be found on the branch below the infected foliage. The bark turns brown, and small fruiting bodies form in the cankered area. Drops of resin are frequently found in and at the sides of the canker. Larger trees may slowly decline from the cumulative effects of multiple cankers.

Cercospora Blight

The affected foliage turns bronze to light brown color then grayish. Small, fuzzy, or hairy spore-bearing structures, easily seen with a hand lens, form on the dead foliage. Eventually, the dead foliage and twigs fall off the branch. With time all the inner foliage and twigs are gone, leaving only foliage at the very tips of the branches