Dr. Phyto

small-leaved lime

Tilia cordata

Diseases & pests on this plant

• Japanese beetlePopillia japonicaEU-notifiable quarantine organism

  Adults are bright metallic green with coppery wing-cases and small white tufts of hair along the sides of the abdomen; they feed in groups in sunshine, skeletonising leaves between the veins (a lacy look) and chewing flowers and fruit of a huge range of plants (rose, grape, lime, fruit, soft fruit); the white C-shaped grubs eat grass roots, causing brown patches of lawn that lift like a carpet.

• Lime (linden) powdery mildewErysiphe tiliae

  A thin, white to greyish powdery coating develops on the upper (and sometimes lower) surface of the heart-shaped leaves, often starting as discrete circular patches on young foliage and shoot tips in mid- to late summer. Affected leaves may be slightly distorted, cupped or stunted, and a faint chlorotic mottling can show through the fungal film; heavily colonised young leaves can yellow and drop early. By late season tiny pinhead-sized fruiting bodies (cleistothecia) appear as amber-to-black specks scattered in the white mat. Mature trees usually tolerate the infection with cosmetic leaf coating, while nursery stock, suckers and water-shoots are the most heavily affected.

• goat mothCossus cossus

  Large round entry holes (8-10mm) on trunks with sawdust ejection + dark stain below, strong vinegar-like smell from active tunnels (the diagnostic odour), large pink-red larva (up to 10cm at maturity) inside tunnels, severe attacks weaken structural integrity of mature trees + create entry for secondary pathogens.