The Trees Are Alright

After reading this article in the Bangor Daily News about fungi attacking maple trees in Maine (especially Norway maples), I had to wonder what kind of a foliage season we would have this year.

And like many others, I noticed several pockets of mangy-looking trees in our area. Some of these trees actually appeared to be dead by midsummer. On top of that, some of the leaves on certain trees began to change color a good two months earlier than expected.

Autumn colors on the 4th of July: oddly patriotic...

A couple of weeks ago a casual acquaintance from Vermont (also a photographer) mentioned the "stressed-out trees back home", and at one point in our conversation she became visibly agitated while discussing "that damned maple blight." And then she seemed sad and withdrawn. "Without the maples...." her voice quivered a little before trailing off. I began to get a little nervous.

I'm happy to report that my initial reaction to all of this has been tempered somewhat through a little bit of research and a goodly amount of non-scientific observation. I'm not a forest ranger, by the way. If I had to write down my forestry credentials on a resumé, for example, it would read: "This one time in grade school? I actually met Smokey the Bear!"

According to the aforementioned article, a one-two fungal punch of "tar leaf spot" and "anthracnose" is what is responsible for knocking the teeth out of many trees, tussling and spotting up their leaves, ruining their good looks and generally taking them down for the count. At least temporarily; the fungal attacks are not thought to cause lasting damage.

Spotty leaves...yuck.

Apparently, the wetter-than-usual summer we've had here in New England hasn't helped matters.

Or has it?

I like to take passing glances of the trees as I'm walking my dog in a park or taking a short hike somewhere, and one thing seems to have remained constant in this late summer and early autumn season despite the presence of a few disease-ridden specimens: the healthy looking trees look really healthy.

More often than not, many of the leaves I've seen are full and green. They appear to be quite strong, and not at all like the dry, brittle, rusty-brown leaves I've observed after prolonged dry spells in some of the previous seasons.

Clean and green...yay!

And here's another telltale sign that a majority of the trees in Maine are alright; there is very little leaf drop just ahead of the color season. At least it seems that way when I compare this preseason to many preseasons of the past.

I mentioned earlier that I am not a scientist. So is all of this just my fevered imagination? The wishful thinking of a desperate photographer who loves autumn colors and doesn't want to hear the word 'blight'? Perhaps I've gone nutty after spending a little too much time with the squirrels...

Nah. To quote from the first foliage report of the season (compiled by forest rangers in Maine):

The rain that soaked Maine during the first half of the summer was good for something. Leaf-bearing trees throughout the state benefited from the wet weather...(snip)...."Good foliage development is a prerequisite for good fall color," said Bill Ostrofsky, a forest pathologist with the Maine Forest Service. "The plentiful summer rain allowed the foliage to develop vigorously, and most crowns now appear full, dense, and very lush. All regions appear to be on track for another spectacular season."

So there you have it! Go forth and enjoy. While there's no way of knowing what kind of autumn foliage we'll really have this year, I'm going to go out on a limb...hee hee...with the following unscientific prognostication: Forget about the stupid fungi. I'm worried about a hurricane brewing up somewhere, gracefully curving its way north along the Atlantic seaboard, crashing into us like a demonic bowling ball and knocking off all of our precious leaves overnight!

Barring that, I think we should be in for a pretty good show this year.

PS - According to Forest Trees of Maine, published by the Maine Forestry Service, Norway Maples are native to continental Europe and not to New England. They were planted in large numbers here "as a street and shade tree" because of their "aesthetic appeal" and "ease of propagation". The book goes on to explain that because of its aggressive propagation, the Norway maple "is considered to be a serious potential threat to our native flora and further planting of it is to be discouraged."