Bush/Berry ID

[rscott74]

These images are from a couple of days ago. What sort of bush and berry are they? Are the berries edible. I may not have noticed them before but they are out in abundance this year.

[Paul mabbott]

The berries look like sloes, the fruit of the blackthorn, Prunus spinosa , but I'm surprised to see any leaves left! Sloes are give or take 1cm long with a powdery bloom usually. Other members of the Prunus (plum) family look similar.

If this is sloe then it's not poisonous but extremely bitter - is mainly used to make sloe gin: there have been threads on that topic ...

[rscott74]

Thanks Paul. I think I remember the thread you mentioned.
I believe the blackthorn flowers before leaves appear and the bush in winter looks like hawthorn. I'd noticed it in flower but didn't realise it's berries and leaves were so different from hawthorn.

[Paul mabbott]

Yes, a very cheerful plant in late winter, early spring - the flowers can be confused with the various other Prunus species which grow at that time of year except that, as its name implies, it has stout black thorns!

Originally Posted by rscott74

Thanks Paul. I think I remember the thread you mentioned.
I believe the blackthorn flowers before leaves appear and the bush in winter looks like hawthorn. I'd noticed it in flower but didn't realise it's berries and leaves were so different from hawthorn.

[naturelover]

the second one are sloes i yoused to pick them for my dad to make sloe wine.

[Dan Salter]

"used"



While making jams/sloe gin this season i was amazed the confusion that can be had between true sloes, true damsons and wild plum species...they seem to hibridise and throw up all sorts of confusing fruits?...are they large sloes or small damsons etc etc.

But yours in the pic are certainly sloes. My gin is brewing away ( or whatever the technical term is) nicely!.

Edit:I should add that some of the confusion for me was i grew to know sloes on a chalk downland site in north kent and the bushes were regularly grazed or cut back with the use of volunteers (not the grazing obviously) making for a very thick dense and severely thorny bush that was almost impenetrable to pick the fruit. The sloes i encountered where i live now were on high un touched mature trees which show very little sings of thorns indeed...its simple ecology but i was confused for a while....either that or im making damson or wild plum gin...still be nice though