DISEASES OF CORN - ANTHRACNOSE

The anthracnose pathogen, Colletotrichum gramimicola, is important from several perspectives. First, this pathogen can cause a severe foliage disease. Symptoms of anthracnose include irregularly shaped rusty-brown lesions that often have a yellow halo. Lesions can expand and coalesce, killing large portions of the leaf surface. Upon careful examination of these lesions with a hand lens, you may be able to find the fruiting bodies (reproductive structures) of the pathogen with their characteristic black hair-like structures (called setae).