blackthorn

Prunus spinosa

• A deciduous, thorny shrub
   
• Forms dense thickets by sending up shoots (suckering)
   
• Often found in hedges
   
• Can form small trees up to 10m tall
   
• Smooth, bright bark

 
Cascades of white flowers which emerge before the leaves and help to distinguish it from hawthorn
 
Can be confused with the cherry-plum – but only the blackthorn has thorns
 
The oval blue-black fruits (“sloes”) have a powdery surface bloom and an extremely bitter taste

Where found

Common in woodland, scrub and hedgerows
 

When to look for

• Flowering March-April
     
• Ripe fruit September
   

Did you know?

• This is the ancestor of our cultivated plums
  
  
• Straight blackthorn stems were traditionally used to make shillelaghs (a club-like weapon) in Ireland
  
  
• Blackthorn supports around 153 species of leaf-eating insects
  
  
• Blackthorn in bloom is considered a symbol of life and death together as the flowers appear when the stems are bare
  
  
• Nightingales favour dense thickets of blackthorn for nesting
  
  
• It was believed that to bring blackthorn into the home meant certain death would follow
  
  
• In ancient times sloes were buried in straw-lined pits and left for a few months to ripen and make them sweeter. A pit full of sloe stones was found at a Neolithic lake village in Glastonbury
  
  
• The spell of bad weather that often coincides with blackthorn flowering is known as a 'blackthorn winter'