Lethal Yellowing

The coconut palm tree disease called "lethal yellowing" is hitting palms in Florida, according to this report.

The homeowner of one of the coconut palms affected by lethal yellowing didn't even know it was a potential threat until it was too late.

"The guy from the city said we had lethal yellowing and we're taking it down, so I said okay. I didn't want it to spread to all the other ones on the property," said Mary Beth Ross.

The tree disease is spread by a small insect called the leaf hopper. It doesn't take many of them to infect a tree and once it happens there's no hope.

Nearly 200 trees in Naples alone have had to be taken down because of lethal yellowing in the last couple years.

Posted by brian at June 23, 2004 06:15 PM