Blackthorn
Blackthorn
Shrub
The shrub that fills bare black twigs with a snowstorm of white flowers in early spring, long before its leaves — and grows the blue-black 'sloes' used to make sloe gin.
💡 Fun Facts
- In early spring its bare, black twigs burst into a snowstorm of tiny white flowers before a single leaf appears.
- In autumn it grows small blue-black berries called sloes, which are used to make sloe gin.
- Its long, vicious spines help it grow into thickets so dense that almost nothing can push through.
📅 Through the Year
- Flowering:March to April
- Fruiting:October to November
Name Story
Prunus spinosa
means “the thorny plum”
What does its name mean?
- Prunus — plum treeLatin — the old Roman name for the plum
- spinosa — thorny, full of thornsLatin spina, 'thorn, spine'
Blackthorn's Latin name means 'the thorny plum'. It is a wild cousin of the plum, bristling with sharp spines, and its dark little fruits — called sloes — look just like tiny plums.