it called late fall .. and time for leaf fall ...

the leaves are shutting down... does it really matter.. beyond the sake of knowledge to know what is attacking it???

any hail storms this late summer????

ken

no hail storms

I wanted to know because it's been there for a while and I am finally getting around to things and I have no idea what this is. I don't know of it's destined to come back again next year or not, or what to do about it.

Sorry I should have specified the leaves looked this way since late spring.

There are several leaf spot diseases that affect maples; it's difficult to tell you which one from the image. These diseases are 'usually' considered an aesthetic problem with no treatment recommended. However, in some instances, that's just not enough.

One thing is pretty much certain......your tree is very likely to be reinfected next spring. You can help some by raking up and removing all of the fallen leaves. The leaves need to be removed from the property or burned, if allowed. Latent disease propagules overwinter in the leaves.

You might try taking some leaves to your local Extension office on the chance that someone can do an accurate ID in person. Leaf spot fungi are pretty easy to ID when an experienced person can eyeball the problem close up.

There are fungicides that can be used in the spring before an outbreak gets started. Your extension office can help with that. But under no circumstances should you skip the housekeeping chores. Chemicals should only be used if the disease problem is extensive.

By the way....it's important for most of us to be informed about a plant problem. Passing every and everything off on the time of year is not a great idea. Ken subscribes to that attitude simply because he doesn't know any better. That's fine for him but not for most.

Perhaps it's the maple anthracnose caused by Kabatiella.

Whatever it is, get it verified now so that you know what to do, if anything, in spring. For now sanitation (collect fallen leaves & discard) is the key activity.

Thank you very much for the information and suggestions. I will try my best to clean up all the leaves as they fall. I really hate to use chemicals in my back yard because I constantly have my toddlers running around putting everything into their mouths, and the trees are shade trees right over their swing set. So I hope cleaning up these leaves this fall really solves the problem.

To identify which of the many fungal diseases that Maple might have put a leaf, with those lesions on in a sealable plastic bag and take it to the local office of your Penn State Cooperative Extension Service office where they will be able to identify it and give advice on what, if anything, to do about it.
Some, such as Black Tar Spot, are not enough of a problem to require any control measures.

Here is a link that might be useful: PSU CES