"John" wrote in message
...
We have had an unusually cool, wet spring and the maples here
(Cincinnati)
are exhibiting sighs of fungal disease. Your tree probably has
anthracnose.
It shouldn't be fatal to the maple, although it will kill native
dogwoods
(cornus florida). Here is a link with some pictures:
http://www.extension.umn.edu/project...nosemaple.html
Thanks Vox,
After looking at the pictures and the descriptions, I'd lean toward
Phyllosticta (Phyllosticta minima), because of the black dots that are
clear
in the pictures I took. I also found this description of Phyllosticta
from
another site
(
http://www.glfc.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/tree...af_spot_e.html):
Spots on infected leaves are brown with surrounding purple borders. They
may
be circular or irregular in shape and 5-10 mm in diameter. Tiny black
fruiting bodies are scat- tered over the surface of the spots.
Occasionally,
the dried-up central portions of the spots crack and fall out before the
end
of the summer.
Here's another picture of Phyllosticta minima from another site that looks
very much like what my tree has:
http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/images/diseases/dis4.jpg
John
You're probably right. I didn't look too closely at your pictures. The
problem here is probably phyllosticta also, although anthracnose is pandemic
in this area. My neighbor brought over some maple leaves last week with
what looked like phyllosticta and my sycamore definitely has anthracnose.