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Australian Native Plants

Eucalyptus with purplish spots on leaves....

14 years ago

I got a new eucalyptus pauciflora niphophila that I received in the mail with what appear to be purplish spots on both sides of the leaves and extend from one side of the leaf to the other on nearly all leaves. I've done some looking at other such plants online, and some appear to have some mottling but nothing quite matching this.

Obviously the first thing that pops to my head is some sort of fungus, though this doesn't quite carry the look of a fungus I'm used to and hasn't as of yet caused deformations, yellowing of, or dying of the leaves.

A few small leaves have sprouted off the tree (it's not growing nearly as quickly as the eucalyptus debeuzevillei, but I wouldn't expect that).

Anyway, just curious if this is a known fungal problem I'm dealing with, and if so, any idea on the best fungicide to treat this with?

Rather, is this a fungus of the roots, the foliage, or what have you.

I got the plant out of a nursery in Oregon and will be recontacting them. Just wanted to get any feedback if I could. I'll try posting a picture tomorrow.

Thanks so much!

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Comments (3)

alisonoz_gw
13 years ago
It would be good if you could post a picture of both sides of the leaves.

While there are some recognised diseases of Eucalyptus (both sides of the Big Pond) it seems curious to have your plant come complete with fungus out of a nursery in the first place (you'd expect great plant hygiene) or, if locally air-borne, to be so fast to attack.

We have a variety of sucking and leaf-eating insects in Australia that can cause damage depending on species and location - it might be hard to find an "un-touched" mature leaf in natural growing conditions. There are some forms of rust too, but you could tell the difference yourself.

It could simply be a bruising reaction to damage in transit?

anyway a picture or two would be useful, you can post here or in the Aussie "Gallery"
ian_wa
13 years ago
99% certain it is a physiological problem called oedema (a term also applied to human/animal disorders but that's another story). It is common on container grown eucs in the Pacific Northwest and usually (mostly at least) clears up once the plant has been established for a year or two.

Here is a link that might be useful: Google results for
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emily_aust
13 years ago
charlesmartel2, I experience this on some of my Eucalypts, I have looked for the prob online to see what is, but could not find any info, my nurseryman said it was nothing to worry about, and indeed some of my eucs seem to grow out of it, but one 2yearold tree I had actually died from it. I can only think it is stress, possibly caused from too much water, but Iam not 100% certain of this

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