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Maple Leaves Turning Red in Early July

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From: Bill Barnum City: Orland Park, IL
I have 2 new maple tree that the city planted in front of my house last year. Some of the leaves are turning a reddish color. There are no raised bumps or changes to the texture of the leaves. It seems to be affecting the leaves at the top most strongly. My neighbor also has one of these trees planted at the same time, but his does not seem to be affected.
	Extension Message From: Jay Hayek Extension Specialist, Forestry Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences jhayek@illinois.edu
Hi Bill: Yep, a tad early for trees to begin their display of fall colors. Granted, there are numerous blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica) trees here on campus that have 5-50 full red leaves as of July 8, but that's a unique feature to that particular species. I'm going to suggest environmental stressors or possibly genetics. I wouldn't worry too much about it right now, unless of course, these trees start dropping all their leaves!
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