I live in southern California and moved into a new house a few months ago which had this tree planted in front of the house. When we moved in, it was basically bare, but over the past couple months it has grown a lot of leaves. I think I remember it having some purple blooms when we originally saw the house last November.
In any case, I noticed that the leaves on a good number (maybe 10-20%?) of the branches are covered with a fine white powder. If I shake the branch, it comes right off into the air. It definitely doesn't seem "right" but I know very little about this.
Is the tree diseased in some way, and if so, what should I do? Also, what kind of tree is this? I am attaching some photos below.