What is wrong with my trees?

June 1, 2014 4:46 PM

I live in east Tennessee and I have a couple of trees in my yard that get what I think is a fungus of some kind but I can't identify it. I have tried to google the disease but I can't seem to find it. Spiky growths come out of the berries and some leaves will get similar growths later in the season.

One tree is a hawthorne and the other is a small berry tree that I cannot recall the name of.

Here is a link to pictures of the berries.

Can anyone identify it and possibly point me to treatment suggestions?

posted by slavlin to Home & Garden (3 answers total)

Best answer: Cedar hawthorn rust.
posted by sciencegeek at 4:49 PM on June 1, 2014 [1 favorite]

Best answer: sciencegeek has it. I grew up in East TN and everything that could possibly get rust, got rust (along with a few thing that weren't supposed to get rust.) It's a huge and very well-documented problem in the South. I'd get in touch with the UT Knoxville agricultural extension office nearest you, let them know what the deal is, and ask what they recommend.
posted by WidgetAlley at 4:56 PM on June 1, 2014 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you both there. That helps out a lot, though it doesn't appear to give much hope for getting rid of it. Sadly, it appears that the other tree I didn't remember is a serviceberry. Also, there is a whole line of evergreens behind the house, and they are part of the other end of the life cycle on that rust.
posted by slavlin at 6:02 PM on June 1, 2014