In article ,
"Tonto_Goldstein" wrote:

I haven't seen any little critters, but from searching on the interwebnet
thingy, it seems the might have a bit of a scale infestation(?)

Any other suggestions as to what it might be, and what the right treatment
would be?

It's probably sooty mould, which IIRC can be caused by a scale infestation.
We have bottlebrushes planted as street trees, and most of them have it. You
could try a bit of pruning to let more light into the centre of the tree.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Parenthood is like the modern stone washing process for denim jeans. You may
start out crisp, neat and tough, but you end up pale, limp and wrinkled."
Kerry Cue