FILE - In this July 1, 2015 file photo, Marvin Hernandez, right, and Kelly Vera sit in the shade of a palm tree, in Key Biscayne, Fla. Florida's iconic palm trees are under attack from a fatal disease that turns them to dried crisps in months, with no chance for recovery once they become ill. Spread by a rice-sized, plant-hopping insect, lethal bronzing has gone from a small infestation on Florida's Gulf Coast to a nearly statewide problem in just over a decade.
Florida’s official state tree — the tall, broad-leafed sabal palm — is especially susceptible and Florida nurseries, businesses and homeowners are taking a financial hit as they scrap infected palms. Some preventive measures can be taken, but once infected, uprooting the tree is the only practical solution.
Lethal bronzing, which experts say likely originated in Mexico, also is found in parts of Texas and throughout the Caribbean. Some worry it will migrate to California and Arizona, infecting date palms and damaging that fruit crop. The disease has already heavily damaged Jamaica’s coconut plantations, and Brazil is taking preventive measures to avoid invasion.
Lethal bronzing’s first Florida appearance came near Tampa in 2006, but it’s now found from the Keys in the south to Jacksonville in the north. The disease is transmitted solely by the haplaxius crudus, a tiny winged insect sometimes called the American palm cixiid or, generically, a treehopper. These specific treehoppers inject the bacteria through their saliva when feasting on the sap from a palm’s leaves.
To check the spread, the state agriculture department regularly inspects palm nurseries and certifies those found free of the disease. If infected trees are discovered, they’re destroyed and the nursery’s remaining trees are quarantined for at least six weeks. Calls to about a dozen palm tree farms around the state weren’t returned — Bahder said it is a problem owners don’t like to discuss publicly, fearing it will hurt business.
Brent Gaffney, a Gainesville landscaper, said Bahder’s research is the state’s best hope for containing the disease, but only if he gets enough funding. Studies are underway on whether massive doses of antibiotics can save trees in the infection’s early stages.
até a natureza está desejando mudar kkkkkk
Diseased trees, red tide, sharks vultures; electric crazy people, DonnyT, hurricanes ... Florida has become its own disaster theme park.
😮🤔
And the Lantern Fly is destroying crops in PA.... thanks again International trade.
Just one of the many costs of International commerce... so much for the One World project being the best for everyone... sad.
BBuchman_CNS Mother Fu..... explains why my palms look like they aren't getting enough water, despite the daily 3pm storms.
Especially since most of their palm trees aren’t native to Florida
Vultures are on their way to,kinda wonder who in Florida pissed off GOD?..........
Probable because the environmentalists have put its predator on the endangered species list!
It's Trump's pancake make-up drifting through the air.
Let's see, could have ridden in with the pythons, buffo toads, iguanas, monkeys, melaleuca trees, NY'ers, Muscovy ducks, feral hogs, Cuban tree frogs, African land snails, ...?
OliviaN9090
Makes sense... all kind of batetial disease in our water and land... just trying to grow a vegetable garden is a battle 😤😠
That's a pity. 🌴🌴
We have to do something to reverse this. Love those palm trees