Leafspot fungus doesn’t discriminate between types of hydrangeas. It impacts bigleaf, panicle, oakleaf, and other hydrangeas with equal tenacity. Disease Progression. Leafspot symptoms usually appear on older leaves near ground level first. The first spots are tiny, purple, and circular. Leafspot is particularly common in hydrangeas. It causes purplish spots with gray or tan centers that start on the older, lower leaves and work their way up the plant. SpotsonHydrangeaLeaves: What's Going on and What to Do About It.How to Treat Black SpotsonHydrangeaLeaves: Effective Strategies for Healthy Blooms - Evergreen Seeds. Leafspottingonhydrangea is mostly caused by the fungus Cercospora and affects most of this family of plants. It is common from summer through fall. The fungus exists in the soil and is moved onto the plant by overhead watering or rain. Black, purple and brown spotsonhydrangealeaves can ruin the appearance of this popular plant, making it look sickly and detracting from the beauty of the blooms. Leafspot is another common fungal disease that can cause irregular black spotsonhydrangealeaves. The leaves can then start to turn yellow and begin to drop from the plant. Leafspot not only diminishes the look of the hydrangea, but it weakens the overall health of the plant. Leafspotsonhydrangeas caused by bacteria are from the pathogen Xanthomonas campestris. Similar to cercospora, this will typically start at the base of the plant on the lower leaves, and will be either purple or red in color. The spots by the veins will become angular. There is more than one reason you’ll find ugly brown spotsonhydrangealeaves, as you’ll see below. Keep reading to find out how to prevent or fix these issues and have your beautiful garden of hydrangeas be the envy of the neighborhood. The first indication that your hydrangea is infected with Colletotrichum gloeosporioides will be brown spotson the leaves. Unlike those caused by other pathogens such as Botrytis (aka gray mold), these spots will be circular or slightly irregular. The center of each spot will later turn tan. Hydrangea > Leaves > Spots or blotches on leaves.Older leafspots have a thick purple border and a tan to gray enter. Severely infected leaves become yellow and may drop. Leafspots often form on lower leaves first and gradually spread upward in the plant.