Dogwood Tree Leaves Curling
When leaves are falling off dogwood in summer it could mean a serious illness improper siting or cultivation problems.
Dogwood tree leaves curling. Ascochyta cornicola is a fungus that appears on dogwood foliage after unusually rainy springs attacking new leaves as they emerge. This is a page about leaves turning brown on a dogwood tree. Curled wilted or distorted leaves along with dark or tarlike spots are common symptoms of dogwood anthracnose. There are any number of diseases and pests that can stress your dogwood and cause dogwood leaf drop.
One of the most common reasons for leaf curling on dogwood trees discula anthracnose is a fungus infection that can attack your leaves in the early part of the growing season. Drought and winter injuries weaken trees and the anthracnose fungus mostly attacks during the cool wet spring and fall weather but it can occur during any season. The entire leaf is eventually engulfed turns brown and black then withers. Rather than keep its leaves flat and susceptible to burning in the summer sun dogwoods curl their leaves to minimize leaf surface area and thus minimize any damage they might receive.
Leaf curl on dogwoods is essentially a protective reaction to stress the tree feels. Environmental disorders and infectious diseases may cause dogwood s leaves to cup and curl and can threaten the tree s health wherever it grows. Blight begins with small brown centered gray spots that appear on leaf surfaces and distort leaf growth. While the leaves may brown before they fall in autumn brown leaves on a dogwood tree in other seasons is often a sign of poor health.
A variety of environmental stressors can cause an alarming curl known as leaf scorch in dogwood leaves. When a dogwood tree does not receive adequate water the leaves of the tree begin to dry with the. This infection strikes as soon as the flowers and buds open and creates small purple blotches on the faces of the curling leaves.