Florida’s iconic palm trees are being attacked by a fatal disease that turns them to dried crisps in just a few months.

Lethal bronzing is spread by a rice-sized, plant-hopping insect called the haplaxius crudus, and it has gone from a small infestation on Florida’s Gulf Coast in just over ten years. Since then, tens of thousands of palm trees have died due to the disease, and many more trees are now in danger. Though preventive measures can be taken, the only thing that can be done once a tree is infected is to uproot it.

“Getting this disease under control is essential because it has the potential to drastically modify our landscape,” said Brian Bahder, an entomologist who studies insect-borne plant diseases. He added that if nothing is done, “I don’t think all the palm trees will die, but the issue we see will get a lot worse before it gets better.”

Once the bacteria is inside a tree, they multiply until they clog the circulatory system, making it impossible for the tree’s cells to get sufficient nutrients and sugars. This essentially starves the tree, and as it dies, its fronds and central spear leaf transform from green to a tell-tale shade of bronze.

Eric Muecke, the urban forestry manager of Tampa, said that his city has found some success containing the disease by keeping its palms healthy and surrounding its more susceptible palm varieties with trees that don’t attract the bacteria-spreading bugs.

“It’s not like it marches through a tree population — you don’t see one dead tree after another,” he said. “It hops around; it’s pretty sporadic.”

Bahder is trying to do as much research as possible to find a way to stop this disease, but he can only continue if he gets enough funding. If he doesn’t, the landscape of Florida may change quite a bit in the coming years.

Find out more in the video below.