[2] Main hosts Coffea arabica (arabica coffee) Coffea canephora (robusta coffee) Coffea liberica (Liberian coffee tree) Other hosts Gossypium (cotton) Musa × paradisiaca (plantain)[1] Similar to other vascular wilt pathogens, the fungus colonizes the xylem and causes the flow of water to be cut off.

The berries will appear as though they are ripening prematurely but will stay on the coffee plant after the leaves have fallen off.

[4] Young trees can be killed within a few days of infection while more mature coffee plants can survive up to 8 months.

[2] Gibberella xylarioides (Sexual form) will make purple perithecia and ascospores, but resting structures are rarely found in the soil.

Fusarium xylarioides (Asexual form) make sickle shaped conidia and are spread by wind, rain, and human activities like weeding and harvesting.