Walking Stick Tree Dying

The other ornamental feature about the trees are the male catkins.
Walking stick tree dying. Aralia spinosa commonly known as devil s walking stick is a woody species of plant in the genus aralia family araliaceae native to eastern north america the various names refer to the viciously sharp spiny stems petioles and even leaf midribs. Trim the lower parts of the walking stick tree to remove excess growth and expose the twisted branches in the main part of the plant. We d very much like to save it if we can. Periodically the leaves on a branch turn brown and the branch it s on becomes brittle.
This tree is slow growing so don t cut too much especially. This doesn t seem to be a widespread problem but it is happening. The disease that is attacking them is called eastern filbert blight which is a fungal type disease and not an insect problem. I have a lauder walking stick tree that seems to be under stress.
Please see attached picture we ve pruned off the dead branches but it seems more and more are dying. This species is sometimes called hercules club prickly ash or prickly elder common names it shares.