When you look around Viera, as well as much of Florida, you see a lot of palm trees. All different kinds of palm trees. Palm trees elicit visons of a tropical paradise, warm breezes, beaches, and vacations. Here in Florida, we are lucky to have them as part of our normal landscape. So much so, we even take them for granted a little bit. However, like most living things, palm trees are subject to diseases that kill them. Lately, our community has seen an uptick in a disease called lethal bronzing.

The disease, as its name suggests, is lethal and there is no cure once a tree is infected.



Lethal bronzing was first detected in Hillsborough County in 2006. Since then, it has spread to about half of Florida’s counties, including Brevard. Although it was first discovered in Canary Date Palms, it has now spread to other species of palms including Christmas Palm, Bismarck Palm, Pindo Palm, Carpentaria Palm, Coconut Palm, Chinese Fan Palm, Edible Date Palm, Pygmy Date Palm, Wild Date Palm, Fiji Fan Palm, Buccaneer Palm, Mexican Palmetto, Cabbage Palm, Queen Palm, and Chinese Windmill Palm. It is expected that the disease will continue to spread to other species of palms found in Florida.

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