TreeLife Investigator: Vol. 3 – The American Sweetgum
January 23, 2026
As we enter the new year, new areas are being discovered by the South American Palm Weevil. Arborists have been scanning the Canary Island date palms that dapple the beach front of San Onofre for years. We would pass, glaring through car windshields with a phone in hand, in hopes of capturing a photo of that infamous weevil-infested palm ready to send it off to our Arborist buds. Earlier in 2025, word started passing around that a well-known private real estate development and investment company found a South American Palm Weevil at one of their Orange County properties. The word was: keep it hush hush! Nothing for a while… All of a sudden, in the middle of the summer, seminars were being held to discuss a plan of action and bring awareness to the fact that the South American Palm Weevil had in fact made its way to Orange County.
Fireblight ( Erwinia amylovora ) is a common bacterial infection that affects trees and shrubs in the Rosaceae family. For us in sunny San Diego and neighboring counties these are the ornamental species affected: Loquat ( Eriobotrya sp. ), ornamental pear ( Pyrus calleryana, P. kawakamii ), ornamental plum ( Prunus cerasifera ), Photinia sp. , toyon ( Heteromeles arbutifolia ), Carolina cherry ( Prunus caroliniana ) It can also affect fruiting trees in the pear (Pyrus sp. ) , plum/cherry/nectarine ( Prunus sp. ) and apple (Malus sp .) genera.
