Hope for the Cypresses

Majestic trees bordering country lanes, quiet trees surrounding cemeteries, or solitary trees perched on hilltops, Cypresses are Tuscany's quintessential trees, as integral a part of the Tuscan landscape as olive oil is of Tuscan cuisine. This is why residents and visitors alike have watched with horror as a blight has spread among them, killing whole stands of centuries-old trees in the space of a year or two.

The disease is caused by a fungus, Seiridium cardinale. It strikes both male and female cypresses of all ages, and is most virulent in the spring and fall, when mild temperatures and high humidities allow the production of large numbers of spores.

The first symptoms of infection are drops of pitch on the bark and where the branches separate from the trunk; the wood, in the pitch-covered areas, darkens considerably. Once the infection has ringed a branch or the trunk, the section of the tree above it changes color, from green to pale yellow to gray, and dies.

Drastic intervention on the part of a tree surgeon is the only cure: If the infection is mild, the affected parts must be cut away and burned, and the cuts treated with fungicides. We must emphasize that this is not the sort of operation one can perform with a ladder and a pruning saw; it requires training, and the use of specialized equipment, including a hydraulic lift to allow access to the tree. If the infection has gone too far, or if the tree is where it cannot easily be reached, it must be cut down and disposed of before it can spread the infection to its neighbors.

What to do if you spot signs of infection on a tree? Call for help: Untended, it will only get worse. Fortunately, it's not as expensive as you might think. The Banca Del Chianti Fiorentino, which has funded Salviamo i Cipressi del Chianti, a program to treat the cypresses of the public lands of the Comuni of San Casciano, Tavernelle, Montespertoli and Scandicci, has recently decided to extend the program to cypresses on private lands within these comuni, by offering low interest (6%) five-year loans to landowners who want to treat their trees. To qualify for a loan, the landowner must contact the bank (the Home Office is in Piazza Arti e Mestieri, San Casciano, Tel 055-822.8220), which will then send a tree surgeon to examine the trees and base the amount of the loan on the surgeon's report.

The long-term solution is replacing the vulnerable trees with resistant strains. One, called Bolgheri, looks very much like the cypresses immortalized by Carducci. A new tree won't deaden the pain that comes with the loss of an old friend, but it will in time grow to take its place.