Tar spot fungus likely won’t mute fall colors

A maple leaf with tar spot fungus. Photo by Noel Clark/VTDiggerThis story by Scooter MacMillan was first published in The Charlotte News on Sept. 3, 2026.You may have noticed browning trees with crinkled, dried-up leaves on Thompson’s Point Road in Charlotte.You may also have noticed these trees were sugar maples, and you might have worried that the premature browning of what is traditionally one of our brightest performers in the annual polychromapalooza could indicate we’re in for