Taphrina pruni Taphrina pruni Taphrina pruni is a fungal plant pathogen of blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) that causes the Pocket or bladder Plum gall, a chemically induced distortion of the fruit (sloes), producing swollen on one side, otherwise deformed and flattened fruit gall without a stone. The twigs on infected plants may also be deformed with small strap-shaped leaves. "T. pruni" produces a distinctive tongue-like growth, similar to other closely related species such as "Taphrina alni" on Alder ("Alnus glutinosa") and "Taphrina padi" on Bird Cherry "Prunus padus". The growth is the distorted fruit and not a fungus in its entirety. "T. pruni"
Prunus pseudocerasus has been cultivated for its edible (if tart) fruit for around 2000 years. In Japan it is favored as an ornamental tree for its tendency to bloom, flowers before leaves, earlier than the Japanese cherry "Prunus serrulata". A tetraploid with 2n=32 chromosomes, it is used as rootstock for other flowering cherries. It is the parent of a number of hybrid cultivars. It is resistant to the fungal disease cherry leaf spot. Prunus pseudocerasus Prunus pseudocerasus or Prunus pseudo-cerasus, the Chinese sour cherry or just Chinese cherry, is a species of cherry native to China and is used worldwide as an