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 darvasica Prunus darvasica Prunus darvasica, the Darvaz plum, is rare plant endemic to Tajikistan. It is found in the Tajik portion of the Pamir Mountains, the Darvoz Range. There, the plants grow as shrubs 1.5-2.5m tall. The fruit are small (2cm) but otherwise typical plums, nearly black, with a blue waxy coat. The pit is brown. The fruit is edible and can be made into jam or compote. It is suspected that "P. darvasica" is of hybrid origin, as it is a tetraploid with 48 (or 32, depending on the source) chromosomes, possibly the result of "P. domestica" × ("P. prostrata"