Taphrina padi Taphrina padi Taphrina padi is a fungal plant pathogen that induces the form of pocket plum gall that occurs on Bird Cherry ("Prunus padus"). The gall is a chemically induced distortion of the fruits, which are swollen, hollow, curved and greatly elongated, without a seed or stone, but retaining the style. The twigs on infected plants may also be deformed with small strap-shaped leaves. "Taphrina padi", a 'tongue fungus', produces a distinctive, elongated, tongue-like growth on Bird Cherry, similar to other closely related species such as "Taphrina alni" on Alder ("Alnus glutinosa") and "Taphrina pruni" on Blackthorn ("Prunus spinosa"). The
Prunus brigantina to other "Prunus" species are not yet clear, as an initial molecular phylogeny found that various DNA sequences gave ambiguous indications, and it did not appear to belong in a clade with "Prunus armeniaca". Prunus brigantina Prunus brigantina, called Briançon apricot, marmot plum, and alpine apricot, is a wild tree species native to France and Italy. It is the only apricot-like "Prunus" species native to Europe. The fruit is similar to the commercial apricot "Prunus armeniaca", and is edible. An edible oil produced from the seed, 'huile des marmottes', is used in France. Unlike the other closely related species known