Fungus interrupts 200-year-old tree’s graceful aging
Franklin sycamore, one of Buffalo's oldest trees, falls ill
One of Buffalo’s oldest trees is sick, and experts won’t know for a few weeks whether it can be saved.
The towering American sycamore on Franklin Street between Edward and Virginia streets has long been revered as the city’s oldest tree, and it even displays a plaque touting this distinction.
Although foresters have since determined that a white oak in the meadow of Delaware Park is older, the 200-year-old sycamore on Franklin continues to draw attention.
But the most recent wave of interest in the tree has been caused by an unfortunate twist. Like dozens of other sycamores throughout the city, the tree appears to have fallen victim to a fungal disease. City Forester Jeff Brett still isn’t positive, but he thinks the foliage on the trees has been damaged by Sycamore anthracnose.
“I’ve seen it all over the city — from Delaware Park to Cazenovia Park,” Brett said.
The infection has hit the sycamore on Franklin particularly hard.
“It looks pretty bad,” Brett lamented. “It looks almost dead. The leaves are shriveled up and brown.”
The forester said arborists plan to inject a fertilizer into the tree’s roots within a week to help the tree gain enough strength to sprout new roots.
Paul Maurer is chairman of Re-Tree WNY, a reforesting group that has planted about 5,500 trees throughout the region. He said the sycamore on Franklin is an impressive tree that measures more than 6 feet in diameter and creates a picturesque canopy over the street.
“It would be a tough thing to say goodbye to that tree,” Maurer said.
He added that anthracnose is the most serious disease that sycamores face.
“But it doesn’t manifest itself until it’s almost too late to do anything about it,” he said.
Fortunately, Maurer said, sycamores make up less than 1 percent of all city trees.
Justin Booth sits on the board of Re-Tree WNY, an initiative that was launched after the devastating October snowstorm of 2006. Booth said he recently noticed many ailing sycamores, including the celebrated Franklin Street tree, during a bicycle ride through the city.
“It’s just another loss we may have to combat after losing so many other trees as a result of the October storm,” he said.
Why the fungal ailment hit harder than usual this spring is unclear, Brett said.
The sickly sycamores that manage to refoliate will be treated with a fungicide, Brett said. He said he’s hoping the giant tree on Franklin Street will be among the survivors. The recent heavy rains increase the chances that the tree will make it, he said.
“That thing has been pretty hardy for a long time,” Brett said, “so I hope it has enough energy reserves to put out a second leaf.”
