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Highlands Today

Deadly Palm Disease Hits Florida

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By JIM KONKOLY

Highlands Today

Published: August 2, 2008

SEBRING - A new and deadly disease that can wipe out the cabbage palm, which is the most popular palm in Highlands County, has spread from Manatee County to Hillsborough County and might be hitting Highlands County's neighbor to the north, Polk County.

Chances appear good that this still mysterious disease will migrate into Highlands County, said John Alleyne, director of the Highlands County Extension Service.

First detected in Texas about two years ago, the disease, for which there is no cure yet, was named the Texas Phoenix Palm Decline.

This disease is a particularly "nasty" and deadly one that always kills a palm tree once it infects 25 percent or more of the tree's leaves, Alleyne, said. .

In Texas, the disease killed only the Phoenix palms, which, Alleyne said, can cost up to $20,000 to replace, depending on their size.

When it first appeared in Florida in Manatee County, and then spread to Hillsborough County, it also started killing the cabbage palm.

There have been reports that the disease has spread into Polk County, but none of the suspected cases there have been confirmed yet.

Early detection of the disease and immediate action to either save the tree or destroy it is necessary to prevent a possible outbreak of this mysterious disease in Highlands County, Alleyne said.

"If a palm is infected, and if less than 25 percent of the leaves are showing symptoms, you can inject the palm with a bactericide called Oxytetracycline," Alleyne said. This bacteriocide can be injected every four months and it will both keep the tree alive and stop the disease from spreading further through the tree, Alleyne said.

"If more than 25 percent of the leaves have the symptoms," Alleyne added, "then forget about it, you should take that tree out immediately, and dispose of it correctly."

Alleyne gave the latest information on this new disease to about 60 members of the Florida Nursery Growers and Landscapers Association at a meeting Tuesday night at the Four Points by Sheraton Sebring, Chateau Elan.

Alleyne said everybody who has a palm tree on their property must know the basic facts about this disease, which are:

•Scientists do not know the "vector," or the medium and the method, in which this disease is spread; until that is known, there isn't any way to prevent it from spreading;

•University of Florida researches are trying to find how this disease spreads and how it can be cured, with much of the work going on at the university's Fort Lauderdale research laboratory.

•Chances are very slim that a cure can be found soon. "Researchers at the University of Florida are going all out," Alleyne said, "But when you're trying to understand a new micro-organism, it takes times. It's a step-by-step-by-step process."

•Finally, Alleyne said, if this disease is positively diagnosed in a palm, "you have to act immediately, either to check the disease or to destroy the tree."

"One of the reasons we're fearful of this disease," Alleyne said, "is that the cabbage palm is a native plant, and it is one of the most popularly used landscaping plants in Florida. It also is regarded as the Florida state tree."

Alleyne described the two major symptoms that indicate a cabbage, or any other type of palm tree, has this disease:

First, the bottom leaves of a healthy palm tree normally get yellow, then turn brown, die and fall off, while new green leaves sprout at the top of the tree. When Texas Phoenix Palm Decline infects the tree, the bottom leaves never turn yellow. Instead, they turn from green to brown, die, and then don't fall off.

"What you finish with," Alleyne said, "is a tree that looks like a 'mummified' tree. Its leaves are dead and look scorched and dry." Also, he said, the dead leaves usually stay in an erect position and do not fall off.

The other major symptom is a drastic change in the spear leaves, which are the youngest and greenest leaves that sprout and grow in the center of the palm. Instead of staying green and erect while they grow, the spear leaves of an infected tree droop and turn yellow.

"They should be the greenest leaves on the tree, but they turn yellow and droop down," Alleyne said.

If people suspect that a palm tree has this disease, they should immediately report it to the extension service by calling 863-402-6540, Alleyne said.

When such a report is called in, extension agents will immediately inspect the tree and make a diagnosis, using the University of Florida's Fort Lauderdale laboratory for analysis if needed.

If the disease is verified, Alleyne said, "you have to either take steps to prolong the life of the tree and check the disease or, if that can not be done, to remove that tree from the landscape."

Whatever course of action is needed, he said, "you have to deal with it immediately."

Alleyne said there's no cause for panic but there is cause for concern because there is "every possibility that this disease can get here to Highlands County.

"Our best bet now," he added, "is to educate the growers and the farmers and the homeowners and every person who has a palm tree so they can watch out for the symptoms and take pro-active measures."

Jim Konkoly can be reached at 863-386-5855 or by e-mail at jkonkoly@highlandstoday.com

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