Drought injury symptoms include which feature?

• A. Yellow-brown cast; injury confined to new needles; yellow brown and shrunken needles; evident late summer; roots dry but healthy.
• B. Uniform green new growth.
• C. Leaf curling with normal root moisture.
• D. Excessively long needles.

Answer: (A)

Drought injury shows stress signs in foliage that reflect water deficit, especially on new growth, and tends to appear late in the growing season after moisture shortages have built up. The best description here is yellow-brown cast with injury focused on new needles, needles that are yellow-brown and shrunken, and symptoms showing up late in summer, while roots may be dry even if the overall plant appears otherwise intact. This pattern fits drought because young, expanding needles are most sensitive to short-term water stress and will show browning and shrinkage as they desiccate, often when soil moisture is low in late summer. The presence of dry roots aligns with the plant experiencing soil moisture depletion.

Uniform green new growth would suggest adequate moisture or a non-drought issue. Leaf curling with normal root moisture points to other stresses, such as nutrient imbalance or pest/chemical effects, not a primarily drought-driven pattern. Excessively long needles are not typical of drought damage, which more often reduces growth or causes shrinking needles rather than elongation.