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''Taphrina pruni'' is a fungal
''Taphrina pruni'' produces a distinctive tongue-like growth, similar to other closely related species such as ''
NBN Gateway Accessed : 2010-02-16
/ref>
The gall is usually known as 'pocket plum'; however alternatives are 'starved plum', 'bladder bullace', and 'mock plum'. The gall appears on the developing fruit, rendering it inedible and resulting in an elongated, flattened, hollow, stone-less gall ranging in colour from light green through grey to light orange. The surface of the gall becomes corrugate and coated with the fungus, showing as a white bloom of ascospore producing hyphae. The fruits become totally inedible, shrivel, and usually fall.Royal Horticultural Society. Accessed : 2010-02-16
/ref> In Britain the galls form in May and June, reach full size in July and August, and persist to September; some remain on the tree over winter, but most fall to the ground.Darlington, Page 135
Cool and wet weather conditions promote the germination of spores; infection is rare in warm dry weather.
Colonisation can become extensive and eradication very difficult. The disease can to some degree be controlled by carefully removing infected branches, witch's brooms and fruit before the infective air borne spores are produced.
Fungicides that contain copper also provide some control.
Biolimages Ascospores and galls
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1621708 Taphrinomycetes Galls Fruit tree diseases Fungi described in 1866 Fungus species Gall-inducing fungi
plant pathogen
Plant diseases are diseases in plants caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Organisms that cause infectious disease include fungi, oomycetes, bacteria, viruses, viroids, virus-like orga ...
of blackthorn (''Prunus spinosa
''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is an Old World species of flowering plant in the rose family, Rosaceae. It is locally naturalized in parts of the New World.
The fruits are used to make sloe gin in Britain and patxaran in B ...
'') 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
Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to benign tumors or war ...
without a stone. The twigs on infected plants may also be deformed with small strap-shaped leaves.Redfern, Page 249
Hosts
''Taphrina pruni'' produces a distinctive tongue-like growth, similar to other closely related species such as ''Taphrina alni
''Taphrina alni'' is a fungal plant pathogen that causes alder tongue gall, a chemically induced distortion of female alder catkins (''Alnus glutinosa'').Ellis, Hewett A. (2001). ''Cecidology''. Vol.16, No.1. p. 24.
''Taphrina alni'' produces ...
'' on alder (''Alnus glutinosa'') and ''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 elonga ...
'' on bird cherry ''Prunus padus
''Prunus padus'', known as bird cherry, hackberry (unrelated to the genus ''Celtis''), hagberry, or Mayday tree, is a flowering plant in the Rosaceae, rose family. It is a species of cherry, a deciduous small tree or large shrub up to tall. It ...
''. The growth is the distorted fruit and not a fungus in its entirety.
''Taphrina pruni'' is also found on bird cherry (''Prunus padus
''Prunus padus'', known as bird cherry, hackberry (unrelated to the genus ''Celtis''), hagberry, or Mayday tree, is a flowering plant in the Rosaceae, rose family. It is a species of cherry, a deciduous small tree or large shrub up to tall. It ...
''), almond ('' Prunus amygdalus''), peach and nectarine (''Prunus persica
The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called nectarines. Peach ...
''). The Mirabelle
Mirabelle plum (''Prunus domestica'' subsp. ''syriaca'') is a cultivar group of plum trees of the genus ''Prunus''. It is believed that the plum was cultivated from a wild fruit grown in Anatolia.
Description
The mirabelle is identified by it ...
or Greengage
The greengages are a group of cultivars of the common Middle Eastern plum. The first true greengage came from a green-fruited wild plum which originated in Iran. Greengages are grown in temperate areas and are known for the rich, confectionery f ...
varieties of ''Prunus domestica'' may be more resistant.Nature Gardening. Accessed : 2010-02-16Distribution
The gall is widely distributed, under recorded in the United Kingdom, but found throughout the temperate Northern Hemisphere./ref>
Structure and appearance
Fruits
The gall is usually known as 'pocket plum'; however alternatives are 'starved plum', 'bladder bullace', and 'mock plum'. The gall appears on the developing fruit, rendering it inedible and resulting in an elongated, flattened, hollow, stone-less gall ranging in colour from light green through grey to light orange. The surface of the gall becomes corrugate and coated with the fungus, showing as a white bloom of ascospore producing hyphae. The fruits become totally inedible, shrivel, and usually fall.Royal Horticultural Society. Accessed : 2010-02-16/ref> In Britain the galls form in May and June, reach full size in July and August, and persist to September; some remain on the tree over winter, but most fall to the ground.Darlington, Page 135
Stems
Stems bearing deformed fruit may also thicken and grow with a deformation. The leaves are smaller and strap-like and shoots may be swollen, pale yellow and tinged with red. The fungus may also cause dense clusters of live and dead twig, calledwitch's broom
Witch's broom or witches' broom is a deformity in a woody plant, typically a tree, where the natural structure of the plant is changed. A dense mass of shoots grows from a single point, with the resulting structure resembling a broom or a bi ...
s. Some authors suggest these are caused by the very similar ''Taphrina insititia'', others that this is only a form of ''Taphrina pruni''.
Life cycle
The airborne spores released from the whitish 'bloom' on the fruit are thought to settle in the host's bark and bud scales, growing at first without causing obvious signs, but in the spring the fungus invades the plant tissues, causing swollen and deformed shoots. The fungus remains in these as a mycelium. The gall inducing fungus then grows into the flowers and the developing fruit. The cycle then repeats itself. The fungus infects the ovaries causing a pseudo-pollination and an enhanced cell division, resulting in the infested fruit being larger than the healthy one.Infestations of galls
Cool and wet weather conditions promote the germination of spores; infection is rare in warm dry weather.
Colonisation can become extensive and eradication very difficult. The disease can to some degree be controlled by carefully removing infected branches, witch's brooms and fruit before the infective air borne spores are produced.
Fungicides that contain copper also provide some control.
References
Sources
* Darlington, Arnold (1975). ''The Pocket Encyclopaedia of Plant Galls in Colour''. Poole : Blandford Press. . * Redfern, Margaret & Shirley, Peter (2002). ''British Plant Galls. Identification of galls on plants & fungi.'' AIDGAP. Shrewsbury : Field Studies Council. . * Stubbs, F. B. Edit. (1986). ''Provisional Keys to British Plant Galls''. Pub. Brit Plant Gall Soc. .External links
Biolimages Ascospores and galls
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1621708 Taphrinomycetes Galls Fruit tree diseases Fungi described in 1866 Fungus species Gall-inducing fungi