• Black Oakoak image by Vaida from Fotolia.com
  
  The black oak tree, or Quercus velutina, is a common tree of the southeastern and mid-eastern United States. Despite its massive frame and its potentially long lifespan (up to 200 years), the black oak can suffer from a few serious diseases that cause tremendous harm to the tree.
  
  

Oak Wilt

• One of the most devastating diseases of the black oak is oak wilt. Oak wilt is a vascular disease that infects root systems. Oak wilt fungus spreads by various beetles, and the disease can cause trees to begin to die within a few weeks of infection. The impact on large oak groves varies, but small patches of trees are most often affected. The most common symptoms are wilting and foliage discoloration, defoliation, and the actual death of the tree within days or weeks of the initial symptoms. There is no treatment for oak wilt once symptoms begin.
  
  

Shoestring Root Rot

• Another common disease infecting the black oak is shoestring root rot. Shoestring root rot is a fungal disease, with symptoms ranging from brownish shoestring-like growths on the roots to golden-colored mushrooms at the base of the trunk. Although strong trees are not typically infected, black oaks that have been weakened by lightening, insects, or other more general diseases are often attacked by shoestring root rot. Saplings are particularly susceptible and there is no effective treatment.
  
  

Sudden Oak Death

• One of the deadliest and most mysterious black oak diseases is sudden oak death. Affecting several other species of oaks as well, sudden oak death has been linked to a fungal pathogen called Phytophthora ramorum. Symptoms included discolored foliage, seeping and then hardening sap around the base of the tree, and discoloration underneath the bark. Sudden oak death primarily infects the black oaks around the west coast. By the time the symptoms occur, treatment is ineffective.