Sad Sumac

Hi, I have a little Sumac which has been in my garden for 8 years, brought from my previous garden as an offshoot of the tree in my previous garden. This year , about a month ago, some of it's branches began to wilt- not all of them, and not all in the same place on the tree. I can't see any damage to trunk or branches. Any ideas, please?

 

Hi Liz
Mine done the same thing about 4 weeks ago , which is realy odd it has started to reshoot I have had to cut away the dead leaves
Where do you live ??

Spruce

 

Hi, We have exactly the same problem with ours.

Josie

 

This is very odd! I wonder what it is.
I live in West Wilts [no pun intended!]
My next question was going to be what to do about it, I will try removing wilted leaves and see if branches show any signs of recovery before removing whole branch. I have got Viburnum, Buddleia, and Campsis nearby with no sign of any die-back. Thanks for replies

 

Mine was realy bad only one shoot growing I nearly cut it down , but I gave it another week and it has buds on all the branches


I would realy like to find out now what caused it , I know it went realy cold for a couple of days then lots of rain ???
They wilted first then they went back to normal then wilted and never recovered after that .

Spruce

 

Hi Liz, I live in the Midlands (Staffs). All of the other shrubs are OK, it's just the Sumach that's poorly.It's a bit of a mystery, isn't itMy husband cut the offending branches off, because they looked so unsightly.

Josie

 

I may be wrong, being no great expert, but it sounds like Verticillium Wilt, caused by a soil based fungus. Healthy strong trees may be able to withstand it but young trees may not fair so well.

 

Hi, I sent a picture to Amateur Gardening and had a very prompt answer this morning. Anna Toeman suggests the same as chopper, so I am reproducing her message here:

Dear Liz,
Thank you for your enquiry.
Before giving you a somewhat melodramatic answer have you looked thoroughly
at the base of any of the affected stems to see if you can spot any damage
to the bark or wood that might result in cutting off the supply of water to
the foliage above? Can you trace all the affected foliage back to a common
point and if so can you see any damage at this point?

If there definitely isn't any damage to the wood or bark I wonder if the
problem is a fungal disease called Verticillium Wilt. I can't be certain
that I have diagnosed this correctly but if I give you the details then you
might have an idea

This shows itself as wilting of the foliage. Most or all of the leaves on
an affected branch or stem will show the symptoms but the whole plant is
unlikely to be affected simultaneously. The leaves may show inter-veinal
discolouration (usually as yellowing or browning between the veins) and they
then die.

If the bark is removed from an affected stem the vascular (conducting)
tissue is seen to be discoloured, usually by brown or purple-brown streaks
which run through the length of the stem, but are most apparent towards the
base. Roots have a central core of discoloured conducting tissue.

The fungus that causes this problem lives in the soil, on plant debris and
within the plant sap. There are numerous host plants.

Before being certain that this is the problem it might be worth cutting off
an affected stem to see if any of the internal symptoms can be seem.
However, bear in mind that as this fungus can live within plant sap it can
be spread between plants on pruning tools - clean all tools thoroughly
before using on other plants.

Unfortunately there are no chemical or cultural controls for this disease
and stem death usually occurs soon after the symptoms appear on the foliage.
However, it may be several years before a large plant like your sumach is
killed completely. The advice given is to remove affected plants
immediately, plus soil from the root zone, and to replant with less
susceptible plants.

However, with feeding and care you may be able to keep this shrub going for
several years, just bearing in mind that the longer it is in the ground for,
the more it might become a source of infection for other plants. If there
are any small healthy suckers it might be worth digging some up. Wash the
roots thoroughly and pot them into fresh compost in individual pots where
they are unlikely to be affected by contaminated soil.

I'm sorry to be the possible bearer of bad news and hope that you find on
closer examination that there is a much less dramatic explanation for the
symptoms you are seeing.
Best wishes,
Anna Toeman
I haven't looked at my branches yet to see if I can see any of the symptoms she describes, but I thought I'd post it here so others can see:(

 

Has anyone else investigated further? I broke off a few wilted branches and they do not have any of the discolouration or streaks described. The middle of the branches is darker and softer but this is typical of Sumacs apparently.
I think I will clear off the dead leaves and wait. The verticillium wilt seems very nasty and can affect may other plants including tomatoes- I'm really hoping it isn't what is affecting these trees!

 

Hi Liz
I will have a look tommorow and let you know what I find , my tomtoes in the green house are only a couple feet away they look fine at the moment


Spruce

 

I do not know if this is relevant or not
Maybe down to the severe winter we have just had

The large mature trees in the ex woodland at the end of my street, the Sycamores and Oak are exactly the same
It is strange to look at the canopy and amongst the virulent green see the new growth orange yellow and red in July ? exactly like your pics

Jack McHammocklashing