BLACKTHORN – Prunus spinosa: [ 27 & 69 ]
Spiny and dense the tree grows to 6 or 7 m with dark brown bark. Commonly used as a hedging plant. Green leaves are slightly wrinkled, oval with a pointed end. White flowers contain male and female parts and bloom in March and April. They develop into blue-black berries or sloes. Bees enjoy the nectar, caterpillars of many moths eat the leaves and the birds like to nest in the blackthorn and eat the caterpillars and the sloes. The timber is traditionally used for walking sticks and the sloes are used in wines, preserves and to make sloe gin.
Spiny and dense the tree grows to 6 or 7 m with dark brown bark. Commonly used as a hedging plant. Green leaves are slightly wrinkled, oval with a pointed end. White flowers contain male and female parts and bloom in March and April. They develop into blue-black berries or sloes. Bees enjoy the nectar, caterpillars of many moths eat the leaves and the birds like to nest in the blackthorn and eat the caterpillars and the sloes. The timber is traditionally used for walking sticks and the sloes are used in wines, preserves and to make sloe gin.
