diff --git a/cmd/prunedate.go b/cmd/prunedate.go
index 0863040..4786285 100644
--- a/cmd/prunedate.go
+++ b/cmd/prunedate.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 var pruneMinDate float64
+var pruneMaxDate float64
 
 // resolveCmd represents the resolve command
 var pruneDateCmd = &cobra.Command{
@@ -51,7 +52,15 @@ If max-date falls on an internal branch, we do not take this part of the tree, a
 				return
 			}
 			for _, t := range forest {
-				f.WriteString(t.Newick() + "\n")
+				if pruneMaxDate > 0 {
+					if err = t.CutTreeMaxDate(pruneMaxDate); err != nil {
+						io.LogError(err)
+						return
+					}
+				}
+				if len(t.Edges()) > 0 {
+					f.WriteString(t.Newick() + "\n")
+				}
 			}
 		}
 
@@ -64,4 +73,5 @@ func init() {
 	pruneDateCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&intreefile, "input", "i", "stdin", "Input tree(s) file")
 	pruneDateCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&outtreefile, "output", "o", "stdout", "Forest output file")
 	pruneDateCmd.PersistentFlags().Float64Var(&pruneMinDate, "min-date", 0, "Minimum date to cut the tree")
+	pruneDateCmd.PersistentFlags().Float64Var(&pruneMaxDate, "max-date", 0, "Maximum date to cut the tree (0=no max date)")
 }
diff --git a/tree/dates.go b/tree/dates.go
index 4f33f54..8102fcd 100644
--- a/tree/dates.go
+++ b/tree/dates.go
@@ -21,11 +21,8 @@ type LTTData struct {
 // If one node does not have date or a malformed date, returns an error
 func (t *Tree) NodeDates() (ndates []float64, err error) {
 	var date float64
-	var pattern *regexp.Regexp
-	var matches []string
 
 	ndates = make([]float64, 0)
-	pattern = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)&date="(.+)"`)
 	nnodes := 0
 	t.PreOrder(func(cur *Node, prev *Node, e *Edge) (keep bool) {
 		keep = true
@@ -33,18 +30,10 @@ func (t *Tree) NodeDates() (ndates []float64, err error) {
 			err = fmt.Errorf("node id does not correspond to postorder traversal: %d vs %d", cur.Id(), nnodes)
 			keep = false
 		} else if len(cur.Comments()) > 0 {
-			keep = false
-			for _, c := range cur.Comments() {
-				matches = pattern.FindStringSubmatch(c)
-				if len(matches) < 2 {
-					err = fmt.Errorf("no date found: %s", c)
-				} else if date, err = strconv.ParseFloat(matches[1], 64); err != nil {
-					err = fmt.Errorf("one of the node date is malformed: %s", c)
-				} else {
-					ndates = append(ndates, date)
-					err = nil
-					keep = true
-				}
+			if date, err = cur.date(); err != nil {
+				keep = false
+			} else {
+				ndates = append(ndates, date)
 			}
 		} else {
 			err = fmt.Errorf("a node with no date found")
@@ -221,3 +210,38 @@ func cutTreeMinDateRecur(cur, prev *Node, e *Edge, mindate float64, dates []floa
 
 	return
 }
+
+// Parses the date in the field "&date=" from the comments in the newick format
+func (n *Node) date() (date float64, err error) {
+	var pattern *regexp.Regexp
+	var matches []string
+	pattern = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)&date="(.+)"`)
+
+	for _, c := range n.Comments() {
+		matches = pattern.FindStringSubmatch(c)
+		if len(matches) < 2 {
+			err = fmt.Errorf("no date found: %s", c)
+		} else if date, err = strconv.ParseFloat(matches[1], 64); err != nil {
+			err = fmt.Errorf("one of the node date is malformed: %s", c)
+		} else {
+			err = nil
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	return
+}
+
+// CutTreeMaxDate traverses the tree, and keep only the tips that are before the given date
+func (t *Tree) CutTreeMaxDate(maxdate float64) (err error) {
+	var d float64
+
+	for _, tip := range t.Tips() {
+		if d, err = tip.date(); err != nil {
+			return
+		}
+		if d > maxdate {
+			t.removeTip(tip)
+		}
+	}
+	return
+}