eastern redbud folding leaves

I have an eastern redbud, violet flowers in the spring, and this type has shiny leaves. The leaves all seem to be folding up, in half, rather than an open flat leaf (which is how it looks on the suckers) Not sure if I'm overwatering, underwatering or is this some type of disease. I don't see any bugs, its in full sun and the temp. here has been quite hot lately. Anyone had this problem or know why?

How much are you watering your redbud? Most books say they do well planted in full sun or light shade, but I've found light shade to be much better. They are native understory trees after all.

Would you consider the "folding up" to be wilting? If so, it could be verticillium wilt.

I'm not familiar with where you are in CA, but if you're inland where the summers are hot, the tree will probably be much happier of you give it more shade. Western redbud might also do better than Eastern redbud, the western one is more likely to be better adapted to the climate here in California.

I don't think it's verticillium. I think it's just something they do when it's hot. ?
I'll try to see what some wild growing ones are doing.

This one's in a friends yard. It's been raining normally here, but it's 91 degrees right now.

edit: I found a wild one growing in the shade that looks fine

This message was edited Jul 8, 2007 1:55 PM

Mine is growing in deep shade and doesn't have any of the folding, so it's probably the sun and heat.

You should also consider Mexican Redbud, which is more heat tolerant.

claypa, if trillium2's redbud leaves look like that, then it's not verticillium wilt. I know Eastern Redbud's aren't as heat tolerant as the Western and Mexican varieties. Silly me for not noticing trillium2's location. :headslap:

Thank you all for your possible answers. I just noticed that my redbud has a couple of suckers coming out at the base of the tree, the leaves on the suckers are big and flat. Very healthy looking. In comparison, the leaves on the tree are half the size and folded. though this tree is in full sun for most of tha day, it does get afternoon shade when the weather really starts to get hot. so I'm still a little perplexed

Could be it just really can't take the heat all that well, the suckers are probably shaded a bit more and don't get quite as much of the force of the sun as the top part so they aren't showing this behavior yet (plus they're closer to the roots, so maybe they steal a lot of the water supply before it makes it all the way to the top part of the tree). I don't think the Eastern redbuds are very heat tolerant so even a little bit of PM shade may not be enough in your climate.

I have two redbuds, and they have some canker(if I recall the name right) This will make a wound on the bark, like the bark is scraped off and trying to grow back at the edges. When it gets far around the stem its on, it starts to kill that part beyond the canker. This might be why there are some healthy stems and some wilted stems. This is a big one in the picture.