According to agriculturist Isidoro Cabrera, Phellenius noxius continues to kill flame trees and this will lead to bigger problems.
Right now, these little big villains may cause road accidents.
A few weeks ago, a motorist almost got hurt when an old flame tree suddenly fell down on Beach Road where vehicles usually go 35 miles per hour.
Days later, another tree in the parking lot of Marianas High School collapsed.
Cabrera said since the plant disease was detected in the early 1980’s, during the construction boom on Saipan, more than 1,000 flame trees have been infected by the fungus. This is an ongoing problem and more flame trees will collapse in the next few months, he added.
There are three factors involved in this problem: the host, the environment and the pathogen.
The rainy season creates the kind of environment that allows the fungus to develop.
The fungus spreads through the soil and attacks the plant’s roots.
When it reaches the roots there will be no remedy. The fungus will kill the host in three to six months. Then, the tree will fall.
Cabrera said the only thing that can be done is to prevent the fungus from spreading further.
Foresters from the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently dug a trench to isolate infected flame trees on Airport Road.
This treacherous fungus can easily be detected — but only after it has infected the tree.
The lower part of the tree, about two to three feet from the ground, becomes dark brown to blackish. The leaves start to wither, and although flowers still bloom they fall prematurely.
Digging trenches to isolate an infected flame tree is not practical and it costs money.
It also does not completely guarantee that the fungus will not spread because there are other ways it can find new victims.
Fungus can also go airborne, hitch on humans and tools or travel through runoffs.
Besides digging trenches, however, there are no other effective measures to control the spread of the fungus, Cabrera said.
But Phellenius noxious has a weakness.
Cabrera said he has observed that infected flame trees are rarely found in well-maintained places, like parks, parking lots and house yards.
Flame trees in the jungle and abandoned areas are more vulnerable to the fungus.
This suggests, Cabrera said, that flame trees in well-maintained surroundings are safer.
Even if it’s the rainy season, as long as the flame trees are in well-maintained areas, they are less likely to be attacked by the fungus, he added.
“We must not create an environment that allows the fungus to attack flame trees,” Cabrera said.
If people really care for flame trees, abandoned lots where these trees are found should be cleaned up, he added.
NMI Forestry, Cabrera said, has identified the places where flame trees are suspected to have been infected already by the fungus: Airport Road, As Lito, Chalan Kiya, Gualo Rai, Sadog Tasi and Capital Hill.
To address the problem before it becomes worse, Cabrera suggests that a thorough study on the fungus should be conducted.
In these times of economic hardship, however, Cabrera said this may not be a priority.
Still, flame trees are one of the things that tourists find attractive in the CNMI. Brochures promoting the islands abroad always include breathtaking photos of flame trees in full bloom.
If CNMI tourism is important — and it is — then the commonwealth should find ways to protect its flame trees.
