Beech trees

By Gabriel Popkin, The Washington Post

Ohio biologist John Pogacnik admits to mixed feelings about having discovered the latest disease imperiling a major American tree.

Pogacnik first noticed American beech trees with striped and shriveled leaves in 2012 during a routine survey of forests owned by his employer, Lake Metroparks. He didn’t think much of it at first: Just a few trees looked sick, and it had been a strange year, with an unusually warm winter and dry spring.