Honeydew, a sugary excrement, can be seen on bark and leaves Sooty mold can follow honeydew and turn bark and leaves black and gray (Figure 2). It is not a pathogen but will discolor plants Crape ...

The initial sign of CMBS is black sooty mold on the tree’s bark, which can be misleading since another common pest (aphids) can leave a sooty mold. A thorough inspection of the affected area is ...

Bark scale insects are typically found in crevices on the trunk and don’t appear on the leaves. These insects secrete honeydew, which leads to black sooty mold that causes misshapen growth.

Sooty bark disease can cause trees to become brittle and put them at risk of falling down, it said. Symptoms included branch dieback, flaking layers or bark and sooty black powdery spores on trunks.