Leaf surface compounds of pecan [Carya illinoensis (Wangenh.) C. Koch] were analyzed with regard to developmental stage and to susceptibility to infection by Cladosporium caryigenum (Ell. et Lang. Gottwald). Immature and mature leaves of two resistant (`Elliott' and `Sumner') and two susceptible (`Wichita' and `Schley') cultivars were extracted with methylene chloride. Extracts were separated by silicic acid chromatography into polar and nonpolar fractions. Constituents of each fraction were subsequently separated by gas chromatography and were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. Leaf surface constituents characterized included long-chain aliphatic hydrocarbons, aliphatic wax esters, triterpenoid constituents, aliphatic alcohols, fatty acids, and diacyl glycerides. The predominant surface compounds on immature leaves were lipids such as fatty acids, fatty alcohols, and glycerides. On mature leaves, lipids declined and aliphatic hydrocarbons and triterpenoids became predominant leaf surface constituents. The changes were observed for all cultivars, regardless of genotypic response to C. caryigenum. Thus, we conclude that cuticular chemicals change dramatically during leaf maturation but do not correlate with resistance to scab disease common to certain pecan cultivars.