Irish wildflowers BSBI map

Blackthorn, Prunus spinosa, Draighean
Photographs: Co. Cork and Co. Clare

Blackthorn / Sloe
Prunus spinosa
Draighean
Family: Rosaceae

Flowering time: March-May. Deciduous shrub. Native.

The white flowers appear before the leaves in spring. These are followed by blue-black fruit in the autumn which are edible when ripe but very astringent. The lanceolate leaves are dull green. A very spiny shrub that produces many suckers and can form dense thickets. Height: 1-4m

Common throughout Ireland in hedges, woods and scrubland.

Blackthorn, Prunus spinosa, Draighean

Blackthorn, Prunus spinosa, Draighean
Blackthorn, Prunus spinosa, Draighean

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