If you have palms in your landscape or are thinking of planting palms, you may want to know more about Lethal Bronzing, a serious disease of palms that has become more prevalent in Northeast Florida.
It is often called a “new” palm disease. However, it was first discovered in Hillsborough County almost 20 years ago and has now spread to 36 counties in Florida. In the beginning, the palms known to be affected by LB were limited to just sabal (cabbage) palms and date palms. As the disease has spread throughout the state, it is now known to infect 21 palm species. This number is expected to grow as the disease spreads to new areas with greater palm densities.
What causes Lethal Bronzing in palms?
The disease is caused by a bacterium without a cell wall called a phytoplasma that is spread from tree to tree by a treehopper called the palm cixiid. The treehoppers feed off the phytoplasma laden sap of an infected tree and carry it to an uninfected tree thereby spreading the disease.
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