Extension > Garden > Diagnose a problem > What's wrong with my plant? > Deciduous Trees > Poplar > Branches misshapen or crooked
Poplar > Trunk/Branches > Branches misshapen or crooked
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Venturia shoot blight (Scab)
Venturia spp.
- Infected shoots droop, wither resembling a Shepard's crook
- Affected areas leaves and petioles turn black
- Leaves become brittle and fall off
- More information on Venturia shoot blight
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Poplar and willow borer
Cryptorhynchus lapathi
- Trunks become crooked and misshapened with openings in bark
- Random sucker growth along deformed
- Frass pushed out of openings in wood; sap seeps from openings
- Damage most common on young trees and willow species; quaking aspen are not affected
- Larvae are C-shaped, cream-colored and approx. ¼ inch long
- More information on Poplar and willow borer
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Poplar-gall saperda
Saperda inornata
- Twig bulges or becomes round where longhorned beetle larvae are feeding
- Branch tips die and/or break over above the gall
- Fully grown larvae are up to 1" long, creamy-white and legless
- Common on quaking aspen
- More information on Poplar-gall saperda
