Anthracnose fungi may attack crowns, petioles, leaves, flowers, buds, and fruit. The term anthracnose can apply to all phases of the disease but is often reserved for lesions found on stolons and petioles. Other phases are usually described by symptoms, for example, crown or fruit rot. When a runner is girdled by a lesion, the daughter plants beyond the lesion wilt and die. Lesions on petioles also result in death of leaves.
Crown rot occurs when the fungus grows into crowns from infected runners or petioles.
Plants with crown rot may die in the nursery or after being transferred to production fields. This can be seen most easily by cutting through the crown length wise. Crown rot is sometimes difficult to identify on the basis of crown discoloration because crowns of dying strawberry plants turn brown regardless of what kills them. Infected tissue on ripening fruit appears as round, firm, sunken, tan to brown spots that turn into sunken black lesions with age. Spots may remain a light tan for a few days, especially during wet weather.