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 'Climax' flesh clings to the stone. The skin is dark red with yellow spots, and somewhat unpleasant in flavour, but peels away easily from the flesh when the fruit is fully ripe. Prunus 'Climax' 'Climax' is a "Prunus" cultivar, considered to be a plum. It was introduced in 1899 by plant breeder Luther Burbank. Burbank devoted a lot of work to hybridizing two plum species, the apricot plum or Simon plum "Prunus simonii" and the Japanese plum "Prunus salicina". He developed a number of cultivars from the hybrid, of which 'Climax' was particularly notable for its importance to the fruit shipping