The first sign of the disease is the wilting and dying of leaves. The leaf wilting is accompanied by a viscous amber to orange-colored exudation from the leaf stalks (petioles) and young stems. As the disease progresses the diseased shoots die so that the plants show the characteristic “dieback” symptoms, with bare leafless stems pointing upward. When large numbers of adjacent plants exhibit the dieback symptoms, the crop appears as a forest of leafless stems which gives rise to the name in French of “la maladie des cierges” or candle disease.