The Living Forest (128) : Blackthorn

At present time, the forest is full of nuts, fruits and berries. Now, let’s have a closer look at the Blackthorn shrub today.

The bitter fruits of the Blackthorn are known as sloes.
Those sloes are ripening in autumn and can be harvested in october or november after the first frost and are used to make sloe gin.

The wood of blackthorn is extremely hard and is highly valued for making walking sticks.

Dutch name : Sleedoorn
German name : Schlehdorn
Latin name : Prunus spinosa