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Prunus spinosa, called blackthorn or sloe, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family, Rosaceae. It is native to Europe and West Asia, and has been naturalized in parts of North America.
The fruits are used to make sloe gin in Great Britain and patxaran in Basque Country. The wood is used to make , including the Irish shillelagh.
Blackthorn usually grows as a bush but can grow to become a tree to a height of . Its branches usually grow forming a tangle.Kilbracken, J. (1995). 075230027X, Larousse. 075230027X
Prunus spinosa is frequently confused with the related P. cerasifera (cherry plum), particularly in early spring when the latter starts flowering somewhat earlier than P. spinosa. They can be distinguished by flower colour, pure white in P. spinosa, creamy white in P. cerasifera. In addition, the sepals are bent backwards in P. cerasifera, but not in P. spinosa. They can be distinguished in winter by the shrubbier habit with stiffer, wider-angled branches of P. spinosa; in summer by the relatively narrower leaves of P. spinosa, more than twice as long as broad; and in autumn by the colour of the fruit skin purplish black in P. spinosa and yellow or red in P. cerasifera.
Prunus spinosa has a tetraploid (2 n=4 x=32) set of chromosomes.
Like many other fruits with Endocarp, the pit of the sloe contains trace amounts of hydrogen cyanide.
The word commonly used for the fruit, , comes from Old English slāh]], cognate with Old High German slēha]], slēwa]], and Modern German language schlehe]]. Other cognate forms are the Frisian and Middle Low German slē, the Middle Dutch slee, slie, sleeu]]; the Modern Dutch slee]]; the Modern Low German slē]], slī]]; and the Danish language slåen]].
The names related to sloe come from the common Germanic root , itself comparable to the Old Slavic, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Ukrainian and Russian слива]] (, Ukrainian ), and the West Slavic/Polish language śliwa]], referring to a plum of any species, including sloe. The root śliwa tarnina]] is present in other Slavic languages, such as Bosnian language, Croatian, Montenegrin and Serbian language (šljiva]]/шљива]]).
The fruit is similar to a small damson or plum, suitable for preserves, but rather and for eating fresh unless it is picked after the first few days of autumn frost. This effect can be reproduced by freezing harvested sloes.
Since the plant is hardy, and grows in a wide range of conditions, it is used as a rootstock for many other species of plum, as well as some other fruit species.
In Navarre, Spain, a popular liqueur called pacharán is made with sloes. In France a liqueur called troussepinette, or just épine or épinette, is made from the young shoots in spring (rather than from fruits in autumn). (Vin d'épine, likewise, is an infusion of early shoots of blackthorn macerated with sugar in wine.) In Italy, the infusion of spirit with the fruits and sugar produces a liqueur called bargnolino (sometimes prunella). In France, eau de vie de prunelles is distilled from fermented sloes in regions such as the Alsace. Wine made from fermented sloes is made in Britain, and in Germany and other central European countries. It is also sometimes used in the brewing of lambic beer in Belgium.
The leaves resemble tea leaves, and were used as an adulterant of tea.
The endocarp have been found in Swiss lake dwellings. Early human use of sloes as food is evidenced in the case of a 5,300-year-old human mummy (nicknamed Ötzi), discovered in the Ötztal Alps along the Austrian-Italian border in 1991: a sloe was found near the remains, indicating that Ötzi intended to eat it before he died.
A "sloe-thorn worm" used as fishing bait is mentioned in the 15th-century work, The Treatyse of Fishing with an Angle.
The expression "sloe-black eyes" for a person with dark eyes comes from the fruit, and is first attested in William Somervile's 1735 poem The Chace. , meanwhile, is first attested in A. J. Wilson's 1867 novel Vashti.
The flowering of the blackthorn may have been associated with the ancient Celtic celebration of Imbolc, traditionally celebrated on February 1 in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.
The name of the dark-coloured cloth prunella was derived from the French word prunelle, meaning 'sloe'.
Etymology
The specific name spinosa]] is a Latin term indicating the pointed and thornlike characteristic of this species. The common name is due to the thorny nature of the shrub, and possibly its very dark bark: it has a much darker bark than the white-thorn (Common hawthorn), to which it is contrasted.
Distribution and habitat
P. spinosa is native to Europe, western Asia, and locally in northwest Africa. It is also locally naturalized in Tasmania and eastern North America.
Ecology
The foliage is sometimes eaten by the of Lepidoptera, including the small eggar moth, Pavonia pavonia, willow beauty, white-pinion spotted, common emerald, November moth, pale November moth, mottled pug, green pug, brimstone moth, feathered thorn, brown-tail, yellow-tail, short-cloaked moth, lesser yellow underwing, lesser broad-bordered yellow underwing, double square-spot, black hairstreak, brown hairstreak, hawthorn moth ( Scythropia crataegella) and the case-bearer moth Coleophora anatipennella. Dead blackthorn wood provides food for the caterpillars of the concealer moth Esperia oliviella.
Uses
The shrub, with its long, sharp thorns, is traditionally used in Britain and other parts of northern Europe to make a cattle-proof hedge.
Flavoring
The juice is used in the manufacture of fake port wine, and it was used as an adulterant to impart roughness to genuine port, into the 20th century. In rural Britain a liqueur, sloe gin, is made by infusing gin with sloes and sugar; vodka can also be infused with sloes. Similarly, in Northern Greece, they make a blackthorn liqueur by infusing tsipouro with the fruit and adding sugar.
Culinary
Sloes can also be made into Fruit preserves, chutney, and used in fruit pies. Sloes preserved in vinegar are similar in taste to Japanese cuisine . The juice of the fruits dyes linen a reddish colour that washes out to a durable pale blue.
Wood
Blackthorn makes an excellent fire wood that burns slowly with a good heat and little smoke. The wood takes a fine polish and is used for tool handles and canes. Straight blackthorn stems have traditionally been made into or clubs (known in Ireland as a shillelagh). In the British Army, blackthorn sticks are carried by commissioned officers of the Royal Irish Regiment; this is a tradition also in Irish regiments in some Commonwealth countries.
Inks
Rashi, a Talmudist and Tanakh commentator of the High Middle Ages, writes that the sap (or gum) of P. spinosa (which he refers to as the prunellier]]) was used as an ingredient in the making of some inks used for manuscripts. Talmud, Tractate Shabbat 23a
Berners, Dame Juliana (attributed to) (2006). 9781600964466, Waking Lion Press. . ISBN 9781600964466
In culture
In Middle English, slō was used to denote something of trifling value.
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