Thursday, June 4, 2009

Do these trees at Sembawang Park have an unknown disease?

Do these trees at Sembawang Park have an unknown disease?
STOMPer conservationist wonders whether these trees, seen at the Sembawang Park Connector, have an unknown disease as their leaves are filled with holes.

This STOMPer says:

"These pictures were taken at the Sembawang Park Connector (SPC) that runs from Gambas Ave to Sembawang Way.

"Many of the trees here are stricken with an unknown plant disease and all the leaves have holes in them.

"Perhaps some caterpillar or insect has been eating these juicy leaves and creating havoc on our environment.

"I hope NParks will send its inspectors to find out the cause and do something to save these trees which provide good shade for joggers and inline skaters."

Do these trees at Sembawang Park have an unknown disease?

I wonder if the person who posted this to STOMP is deliberately being daft. Anyone would readily guess that this tree has had its leaves chewed up by caterpillars or other herbivorous insects. That hardly counts as an "unknown plant disease". Furthermore, I doubt he is in any position to diagnose a garden plant as suffering from an "unknown plant disease"; after all, I doubt he is an arborist or some other specialist in the field of horticulture.

Besides, I don't quite see how a single tree with holes in its leaves is an indicator of insects 'creating havoc on our environment'.