Prunus spinosa L.

Species: Prunus spinosa L., Genus: Prunus, Family: Rosaceae, Group: Angiosperms

(Prunus spinosa L.)

-> Genus: Prunus -> Family: Rosaceae -> Group: Angiosperms

Habitus

the sloe (popularly also Blackthorn) is a shrub 1 – 4 m tall, densely branched, thorny with many brachyblasts
the bark is reddish-brown
the bark is blackish, longitudinally fissured, cinnamon-brown in cracks

Buds

buds are spirally arranged, small, ovoid, pointed, covering scales are reddish brown
leaf buds are 2 - 3 in leaf axils
flower buds are wider, almost round, clustered at the end of brachyblasts

Prunus spinosa (Blackthorn, Sloe plum) - leaf buds

Prunus spinosa (Blackthorn, Sloe plum) - flower and leaf buds

Shoots

long shoots (macroblasts) are greenish-brown to brown, older dark grey
shortened shoots (brychyblasts) are prominent (flowering)
numerous thorns are of stem origin

Prunus spinosa (Blackthorn, Sloe plum) - thorns of stem origin

Prunus spinosa (Blackthorn, Sloe plum) - macroblast

Prunus spinosa (Blackthorn, Sloe plum) - shortened shoots (brychyblasts) on which flower buds are piled

Leaves (assimilation organs)

leaves are simple, oblong-obovate to broadly ovate
obtuse or pointed at the apex, cuneate at the base
marginally serrated
petiole is 5 - 10 mm long (without glands), hairy

Prunus spinosa (Blackthorn, Sloe plum) - top side

Prunus spinosa (Blackthorn, Sloe plum) - underside

Flowers

the tree is monoecious, flowers are bisexual, 5-petaled, white, solitary or in pairs on short pedicels
it flowers before leaves in III – IV

Fruits – seeds

the fruit is a spherical drupe 1 - 1.5 cm large, dark blue to blackish, scaly, bitter
it contains one brown wrinkled stone
it ripens in October and the fruits persist on the branches long in winter

Prunus spinosa (Blackthorn, Sloe plum) - fruits (sloes) persist on the branches until late autumn

Extension

almost all of Europe except the cold north
in Slovakia from the lowlands to an average of 890 m above the sea level
on dry slopes, borders, forest edges in warm oak forests, but also in floodplain forests

Prunus spinosa (Blackthorn, Sloe plum) - Liptov Basin (approx. 700 m a.s.l.), Slovakia

Ecology

it is a light-loving, frost-resistant woody plant
it also spreads by root suckers

Significance

it is an ornamental tree - landscape element, especially during flowering
it is fruit-bearing
it provides nesting and shelter for small birds and mammals

Prunus spinosa (Blackthorn, Sloe plum) - as a landscape element

Prunus spinosa (Blackthorn, Sloe plum) - ornamental with flowers

From history

Prunus spinosa (Blackthorn, Sloe plum) - Unsere Waldbäume, Sträucher und Zwergholzgewächse. Heidelberg, Carl Winter`s Universitätsbuchhandlung

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