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 salicina Prunus salicina Prunus salicina (syn. "Prunus triflora" or "Prunus thibetica"), commonly called the Japanese plum or Chinese plum, is a small deciduous tree native to China. It is now also grown in fruit orchards in Korea, Japan, the United States, and Australia. "Prunus salicina" should not be confused with the "Prunus mume", a related species of plum also grown in China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam. Another tree, "Prunus japonica", is also a separate species despite having a Latin name similar to "Prunus salicina"'s common name. Plant breeder Luther Burbank devoted a lot of work to hybridizing this species with the