A common wet-spring fungal disease that spots and curls leaves and can make a sycamore look half-dead by June — usually more ugly than deadly.
Anthracnose flares up in cool, wet springs, which we get plenty of. On sycamores and London planes it can look alarming — lots of brown leaves and early drop — but an otherwise healthy tree usually pushes out a second flush of leaves and recovers fine.
Where it matters more is on trees that get hit hard year after year, or on already-stressed trees, where the repeated defoliation adds up. Cleaning up fallen leaves helps reduce next year's spores.
This is general guidance from three decades of tree work across the Philadelphia area — not a formal diagnosis. When it matters, we'll come look at the actual tree and give you a straight answer, free.
Brennan Tree Service has cared for trees across the Philadelphia area since 1994.
Most often it's anthracnose, a wet-spring fungal disease. It looks bad but healthy sycamores usually leaf out again. If yours stays thin into summer, it's worth a closer look.
No pressure, no surprises — we come out, take a look, and tell you straight. Serving the Philadelphia area since 1994.