Prunus spinosa

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Prunus spinosa
Closeup of blackthorn aka sloe aka prunus spinosa sweden 20050924.jpg
Fruit
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Prunus
Subgenus: Prunus subg. Prunus
Section: Prunus sect. Prunus
Species:
P. spinosa
Binomial name
Prunus spinosa
L.
Prunus spinosa range.svg
Distribution map
Synonyms [2]
List
    • Druparia spinosaClairv.
    • Prunus acaciaCrantz
    • Prunus acaciaCrantz ex Poir.
    • Prunus acacia-germanicaCrantz
    • Prunus amygdaliformisPau
    • Prunus approximataGiraudias
    • Prunus communis var. spinosa(L.) Hook. & Arn.
    • Prunus domestica var. spinosa(L.) Kuntze
    • Prunus ericifloraA.Sav.
    • Prunus erythrocalyxClav.
    • Prunus erythrocalyx var. rubellaClav.
    • Prunus foecundissimaClav.
    • Prunus glomerataA.Sav.
    • Prunus insititia var. spinosa(L.) Weston
    • Prunus kurdicaFenzl ex Fritsch
    • Prunus lucensSav.
    • Prunus lucidaClav.
    • Prunus moldavicaKotov
    • Prunus oxypyrenaClav.
    • Prunus podolicaAndrz.
    • Prunus praecoxSalisb.
    • Prunus rubellaClav.
    • Prunus spinosa f. erythrocalyx(Clavaud) Browicz & Ziel.
    • Prunus spinosa var. balearicaWillk.
    • Prunus spinosa var. erythrocalyx(Clavaud) Rouy & E.G.Camus
    • Prunus spinosa var. oxypyrena(Clavaud) Rouy & E.G.Camus
    • Prunus spinosa var. pubescensFicalho & Cout.
    • Prunus spinosa var. rubella(Clavaud) Rouy & E.G.Camus
    • Prunus spinosa var. stenopetala(Clavaud) Rouy & E.G.Camus
    • Prunus spinosa var. subcinereaCout.
    • Several other varieties of Prunus spinosa
    • Prunus stepposaKotov
    • Prunus subcylindricaSav.
    • Prunus subvillosaDebeaux
    • Prunus vulgatior var. stenopetalaClav.

Prunus spinosa, called blackthorn or sloe, is an Old World species of flowering plant in the rose family, Rosaceae. It is locally naturalized in parts of the New World.

Contents

The fruits are used to make sloe gin in Britain and patxaran in Basque Country. The wood is used to make walking sticks, including the Irish shillelagh.

Description

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 leaves are oval, 2–4.5 centimetres (341+34 inches) long and 1.2–2 cm (1234 in) broad, with a serrated margin. The flowers are about 1.5 cm (12 in) in diameter, with five creamy-white petals; they are produced shortly before the leaves in early spring, [3] and are hermaphroditic, and insect-pollinated. The fruit, called a "sloe", is a drupe 10–12 millimetres (3812 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. Sloes are thin-fleshed, with a very strongly astringent flavour when fresh. [4]

Blackthorn usually grows as a bush but can grow to become a tree to a height of 6 m. Its branches usually grow forming a tangle. [5] [6]

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.[ citation needed ] 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. [7] 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; [4] [8] [ page needed ] and in autumn by the colour of the fruit skin purplish black in P. spinosa and yellow or red in P. cerasifera. [9] :207

Prunus spinosa has a tetraploid (2n=4x=32) set of chromosomes. [10]

Like many other fruits with pits, the pit of the sloe contains trace amounts of hydrogen cyanide. [11]

Etymology

The specific name spinosa is a Latin term indicating the pointed and thornlike spur shoots characteristic of this species. The common name " blackthorn " 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 (hawthorn), to which it is contrasted. [12]

The word commonly used for the fruit, " sloe ", comes from Old English slāh , cognate with Old High German slēha , slēwa , and Modern German Schlehe . [13] Other cognate forms are Frisian and Middle Low German [a] slē, Middle Dutch slee, slie, sleeu ; Modern Dutch slee ; Modern Low German slee / slē , slī ; [13] [14] Danish slåen . [13]

The names related to 'sloe' come from the common Germanic root slaihwō . Compare Old Slavic, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Ukrainian and Russian слива (sliva, Ukr. slyva), [14] [13] West Slavic / Polish śliwa ; plum of any species, including sloe śliwa tarnina —root present in other Slavic languages, e.g. Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin and Serbian šljiva / шљива .

Distribution and habitat

The species is native to Europe, western Asia, and locally in northwest Africa. [15] [4] It is also locally naturalized in Tasmania and eastern North America. [15]

Ecology

Pocket plum gall on blackthorn, caused by the fungus Taphrina pruni Taphrina pruni, Pocket Plum gall.JPG
Pocket plum gall on blackthorn, caused by the fungus Taphrina pruni

The foliage is sometimes eaten by the larvae of Lepidoptera, including the small eggar moth, emperor moth, 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 .[ citation needed ]

Uses

Global plum and sloe output in 2005 2005plums and sloes.PNG
Global plum and sloe output in 2005

The shrub, with its long, sharp thorns, is traditionally used in Britain and other parts of northern Europe to make a cattle-proof hedge. [16]

The fruit is similar to a small damson or plum, suitable for preserves, but rather tart and astringent for eating fresh unless it is picked after the first few days of autumn frost. This effect can be reproduced by freezing harvested sloes. [17]

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.[ citation needed ]

Flavoring

The juice is used in the manufacture of fake port wine, and used as an adulterant to impart roughness to genuine port, into the 20th century. [18] [19] [20] In rural Britain a liqueur, sloe gin, is made by infusing gin with sloes and sugar. Vodka can also be infused with sloes. [21] Similarly, in Northern Greece, they make a blackthorn liqueur by infusing tsipouro with the fruit and adding sugar.[ citation needed ]

In Navarre, Spain, a popular liqueur called pacharán is made with sloes. In France a liqueur called épine or épinette or troussepinette is made from the young shoots in spring rather than from fruits in autumn. In Italy, the infusion of spirit with the fruits and sugar produces a liqueur called bargnolino (or sometimes prunella). In France, eau de vie de prunelle[s] is distilled from fermented sloes in regions such as the Alsace [b] and vin d'épine is an infusion of early shoots of blackthorn macerated with sugar in wine. [24] [25] 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.[ citation needed ]

Culinary

Sloes can also be made into jam, chutney, [21] and used in fruit pies. Sloes preserved in vinegar are similar in taste to Japanese umeboshi . The juice of the fruits dyes linen a reddish colour that washes out to a durable pale blue. [16]

The leaves resemble tea leaves, and were used as an adulterant of tea. [19] [26]

The fruit stones have been found in Swiss lake dwellings. [19] Early human use of sloes as food is evidenced in the case of a 5,300-year-old human mummy (nick-named Ötzi), discovered in the Ötztal Alps along the Austrian-Italian border in 1991: a sloe was found near the remains; evidently the man intended to eat it before he died. [27] [28]

Wood

Blackthorn makes an excellent fire wood that burns slowly with a good heat and little smoke. [29] The wood takes a fine polish and is used for tool handles and canes. [26] Straight blackthorn stems have traditionally been made into walking sticks or clubs (known in Ireland as a shillelagh). [30] 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.[ citation needed ]

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. [31]

A "sloe-thorn worm" used as fishing bait is mentioned in the 15th-century work, The Treatyse of Fishing with an Angle. [32]

In culture

In Middle English, slō has been used to denote something of trifling value. [33] [14]

The expression sloe-black eyes for a person with dark eyes comes from the fruit, is first attested [34] in William Somervile's 1735 poem The Chace. [35] " Sloe-eyed ," meanwhile, is first attested in A. J. Wilson's 1867 novel Vashti. [36]

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. [37]

The name of the dark-coloured cloth prunella was derived from the French word prunelle, meaning sloe. [38]

Notes

  1. Historically spoken in Lower Saxony
  2. In fiction eau de vie de prunelle is often partaken by Detective Maigret. [22] [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plum</span> Edible fruit

A plum is a fruit of some species in Prunus subg. Prunus. Dried plums are often called prunes, though in the United States they may be labeled as 'dried plums', especially during the 21st century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drupe</span> Fleshy fruit with hard inner layer (endocarp or stone) surrounding the seed

In botany, a drupe is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a single shell of hardened endocarp with a seed (kernel) inside. Drupes do not split open to release the seed, i.e., they are indehiscent. These fruits usually develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries.

<i>Prunus</i> Genus of trees and shrubs

Prunus is a genus of trees and shrubs in the flowering plant family Rosaceae that includes plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots and almonds. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, being native to the temperate regions of North America, the neotropics of South America, and temperate and tropical regions of Eurasia and Africa, There are about 340 accepted species as of March 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sloe gin</span> Red liqueur made from gin and blackthorn drupes

Sloe gin is a British red liqueur made with gin and blackthorn fruits (sloes), which are the drupe fruit of the Prunus spinosa tree, which is a relative of the plum. As an alcoholic drink, sloe gin contains between 15 per cent and 30 per cent alcohol by volume (ABV); however, European Union regulations established 25 per cent ABV as the minimal alcoholic content for the blackthorn beverage to be a sloe gin. Historically, despite being a liqueur based upon gin, the EU included the colloquial name sloe gin to the legal definitions; thus, sloe gin is the only alcoholic beverage that legally uses the term gin without appending the liqueur suffix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damson</span> Edible fruit

The damson or damson plum, also archaically called the "damascene", is an edible drupaceous fruit, a subspecies of the plum tree. Varieties of insititia are found across Europe, but the name damson is derived from and most commonly applied to forms that are native to Great Britain. Damsons are relatively small ovoid plum-like fruit with a distinctive, somewhat astringent taste, and are widely used for culinary purposes, particularly in fruit preserves and jams.

<i>Prunus cerasifera</i> Species of plum

Prunus cerasifera is a species of plum known by the common names cherry plum and myrobalan plum. It is native to Southeast Europe and Western Asia, and is naturalised in the British Isles and scattered locations in North America. Also naturalized in parts of SE Australia where it is considered to be a mildly invasive weed of bushland near urban centers. P. cerasifera is believed to one of the parents of the cultivated plum, Prunus domestica perhaps crossing with the sloe, Prunus spinosa, or perhaps the sole parent. This would make it a parent of most of the commercial varieties of plum in the UK and mainland Europe - Victoria, greengages, bullace etc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patxaran</span> Sloe-flavoured liqueur

Patxaran is a sloe-flavoured liqueur commonly drunk in Navarre, as well as in the Basque Country. It is usually served as a digestif either chilled or on ice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bullace</span> Variety of plum

The bullace is a variety of plum. It bears edible fruit similar to those of the damson, and like the damson is considered to be a strain of the insititia subspecies of Prunus domestica. Although the term has regionally been applied to several different kinds of "wild plum" found in the United Kingdom, it is usually taken to refer to varieties with a spherical shape, as opposed to the oval damsons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shillelagh</span> Wooden walking stick and club or cudgel

A shillelagh is a wooden walking stick and club or cudgel, typically made from a stout knotty blackthorn stick with a large knob at the top. It is associated with Ireland and Irish folklore.

<i>Prunus domestica</i> Species of flowering plant

Prunus domestica is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae. A deciduous tree, it includes many varieties of the fruit trees known as plums in English, though not all plums belong to this species. The greengages and damsons also belong to subspecies of P. domestica.

<i>Taphrina pruni</i> Species of fungus

Taphrina pruni is a fungal plant pathogen of blackthorn that causes the pocket or bladder plum gall, a chemically induced distortion of the fruit (sloes), producing swollen on one side, otherwise deformed and flattened fruit gall without a stone. The twigs on infected plants may also be deformed with small strap-shaped leaves.

<i>Stigmella plagicolella</i> Species of moth

Stigmella plagicolella is a moth of the family Nepticulidae described by Henry Tibbats Stainton in 1854. It is found in all of Europe and the Near East.

Bargnolino is an Italian variation of sloe gin, made by soaking sloe fruits from the blackthorn plant, Prunus spinosa, with sugar and spices in spirit alcohol. This results in a reddish, sweet liquor, around 40-45% alcohol by volume, although results vary by recipe used. Bargnolino is often chilled before serving.

<i>Phyllonorycter spinicolella</i> Species of moth

Phyllonorycter spinicolella, also known as the sloe midget, is a moth of the family Gracillariidae, first described by the German entomologist Philipp Christoph Zeller in 1846. It is probably present in all of Europe.

<i>Prunus umbellata</i> Species of tree

Prunus umbellata, called flatwoods plum, hog plum and sloe plum, is a plum species native to the United States from Virginia, south to Florida, and west to Texas.

The Blackthorn is an Irish whiskey or sloe gin based cocktail. Both versions emerged in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Prunus × fruticans is a shrubby dark-fruiting Prunus of hybrid origin allied to Blackthorn, Bullace and Damsons. Examples frequently reach about 4 m (13 ft) in height, although large tree-like forms are known.

<i>Prunus <span style="font-style:normal;">sect.</span> Prunus</i> Section of plants

Prunus sect. Prunus is a section of Prunus subg. Prunus. It contains species of Eurasian plum.

References

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  16. 1 2 Coats 1992, Prunus.
  17. Brown, Lynda (July 1994). "Damson time". House & Garden. Vol. 166. pp. 140–142, esp. 142 via Google Books. In former times people waited to pick the sloes until the first frost which makes the skins more permeable ... [A proprietor] which makes one of the best sloe gins, recommends freezing the fruit first.
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  31. Talmud Bavli, Tractate Shabbat 23a
  32. Berners, Dame Juliana (attributed to) (3 August 2006) [c. 1420]. The Treatyse of Fishing with an Angle. Waking Lion Press. ISBN   978-1-60096-446-6.
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Bibliography