(Presumably grafted) Husband and wife tree Like many other fruits with pits, the pit of the sloe contains trace amounts of hydrogen cyanide. Prunus spinosa has a tetraploid (2 n=4 x=32) set of chromosomes.

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. In addition, the sepals are bent backwards in P. cerasifera, but not in P. spinosa. They can be distinguished by flower colour, pure white in P. spinosa, creamy white in P. cerasifera. 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. Its branches usually grow forming a tangle. īlackthorn usually grows as a bush but can grow to become a tree to a height of 6 m. Sloes are thin-fleshed, with a very strongly astringent flavour when fresh. The fruit, called a 'sloe', is a drupe 10–12 millimetres ( 3⁄ 8– 1⁄ 2 in) in diameter, black with a purple-blue waxy bloom, ripening in autumn and traditionally harvested – at least in the UK – in October or November, after the first frosts. The flowers are about 1.5 cm ( 1⁄ 2 in) in diameter, with five creamy-white petals they are produced shortly before the leaves in early spring, and are hermaphroditic, and insect-pollinated. The leaves are oval, 2–4.5 centimetres ( 3⁄ 4– 1 + 3⁄ 4 inches) long and 1.2–2 cm ( 1⁄ 2– 3⁄ 4 in) broad, with a serrated margin. Prunus spinosa is a large deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 5 metres (16 feet) tall, with blackish bark and dense, stiff, spiny branches. The wood is used to make walking sticks, including the Irish shillelagh. The fruits are used to make sloe gin in Britain and patxaran in Spain. It is locally naturalized in New Zealand, Tasmania, and the Pacific Northwest and New England regions of the United States. The species is native to Europe, western Asia, and regionally in northwest Africa. Prunus spinosa, called blackthorn or sloe, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae.

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