This was about 3/4 of the way along the hedge beside the River Calder at Cromwell Bottom, today. Each fruit has been affected along this shoot.
I did a search for "Gall on Blackthorn" and Wikipedia informed me that it's Taphrina pruni. It's sometimes known as Pocket Gall, as the empty, flattened, elongated fruit is pocket-like.(See white object at the bottom of the shoot.)
The same fungi infects other Prunus species, and a similar one infects Alder.
I was looking for Dodder, a parisitic plant, which has just been reported by Portia Fincham, who found the Yellow Birdsnest at Todmorden. It was 6 years ago, she admits, and it was on this hedge near the furthest kissing-gate into Tag Loop. (Nearest the railway.) She did note it in July, so it was unlikely to be visible today, and it wasn't.
Steve. Is the species likely to be Cuscuta europaea. Is it as invasive as some reports suggest.
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