Hi Scott,
I live in the same city as you based on your email address. I have
exactly the same black leaf spot on my leaves as you. I am curious if
you called the County Extension office to have an arborist ID your
black spots as Morenoella quercina? The Department of Plant Pathology
& Microbiology at Texas A & M University calls it Tar Spot (layman
for Morenoella quercina) at http://plantpathology.tamu.edu/Texlab/Trees/tree4.html
(see the last paragraph). The advice is the same as Dave's below, to
prune low hanging branches to improve circulation. After reading that
I noticed that only the lower leaves were affected, not the upper
leaves. None of my neighbors have the black spots on their Live Oak
leaves.

I was hoping to find more on it from the Florida Division of Forestry
(www.fl-dof.com), but the website is down. There is a 1987
publication on Tar Spot there and
another at www.doacs.state.fl.us, which of course is also down. grr.
Best regards,
Leanne


On Aug 17, 9:21 am, "Dave" wrote:
"Scott Harper" wrote in message

io.net...



With all the rain we had in the late spring/early summer, my live oaks
have
gone bananas, putting on all kinds of new growth. However, with this hot
spell we got last week, all of a sudden I started noticing something
strange
on a few of them.

The leaves are starting to turn brown. This seemed like it happened
almost
overnight. About half the leaves on an afflicted tree are browning, but I
suspect they will all end up turning brown and falling off before it's all
said and done.

Closer inspection shows black spots on the leaves... on the green ones
even
before they start turning brown. My guess is it's some kind of mold or
fungus related to the extra wet conditions. Here are a couple photos:

http://www.employees.org/~harper/leaves/P8160009.JPG
http://www.employees.org/~harper/leaves/P8160011.JPG

Is this anything to be concerned about? If so, is there anything that can
be
done to stop it?

On a related note, I have a few end tips of branches that are turning
brown as
well. But they don't have the black spots on them. When you look at
them,
the branch looks like it has been damaged, enough so to kill it off. It
almost looks to me like it got so much water that it grew to fast and
ruptured
itself. I suppose it could be birds or squirrels doing the damage though.
These are few and far between, so I'm not too concerned about them...
mostly
just curious. Here's a picture of one of these:

http://www.employees.org/~harper/leaves/P8160012.JPG

scott

Its not just your live oaks, its most in Texas area doing the banana thing
with branching and leaf growth.

Your guess is right on. Its a fungus,Morenoellaquercina. And, as you
guessed, is due to too much long term rain.

If its widespread and there's neighboring oaks with same problem not on your
property, you probably have to let it run its course. Can be treated with
general fungicide if localized. Improve air circulation by pruning. Keep
the dead leaves picked up, and burn em.

The branch problem that I perceive on the upper canopy is what I believe to
be oak decline. If you're in a new home, could be root injury as one cause.
Oak decline is a sign of a stressed tree. More common in drought
conditions. Cut the dead limbs off the tree.

No, I don't claim to be an arborist.
Dave