What is the black, sticky substance that may be found covering the leaves of many plants?
The black substance on the leaves is called sooty mold. It is a fungus which resembles soot. This particular fungus, however, is not harmful to the plant but is actually living on a sweet, sugary substance called honeydew. The honeydew is being secreted by some insect that is infesting the plant. If you see sooty mold on a plant, it means that the plant has an insect infestation – most likely aphids, mealy bugs, soft scale or whitefly.
As the insect feeds, a clear sugary liquid is secreted by the insect onto the leaf below. It is on this secretion that the mold grows. Heavy rains will wash off the sooty mold from the leaves, but the insect problem still needs attention. Often when large trees become heavily infested with certain insects, the honeydew can actually be seen raining down upon the ground. Again, sooty mold indicates an insect problem; inspect the plant for bugs. Below is a close up of the sooty mold.
