It gets its name from its distinctive effect that it has on its host trees, which show unusual flexibility in the stems and branches after a few years of infection.

The limbs of affected trees are distinctly "flat", caused by atrophy of the vascular tissue.

Its biggest effect in losses is through fruit yield, which can be reduced by 10–30%, though it isn't of much economic significance in countries where it is extant.

[7] ARW is known to infect multiple cultivars,[2] including: In Europe, heat treatment can be used to render trees disease-free.

A period of 7 days of dry heat exposure (38°C) is effective on young, infected trees.