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Prunus spinosa

(Blackthorn)

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in Chinese:

Hei Ci Li

Common Names in English:

Blackthorn, Sloe

Common Names in Finnish:

Oratuomi

Common Names in French:

épine Noire, épine-Noire, Prunellier, Prunier

Common Names in German:

Gewöhnliche Schlehe, Schlehdorn, Schlehe, Schwarzdorn

Common Names in Italian:

Prugnolo, Spino Nero

Common Names in Portuguese:

Abrunheiro

Common Names in Russian:

Терновка, терн, терновник, Tern, Ternovka, Ternovnik

Common Names in Spanish:

Ciruelo Silvestre, Endrino, Espino Negro

Description

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Family Rosaceae

Trees , shrubs , or herbs, deciduous or evergreen . Stems erect , scandent , arching , prostrate , or creeping , armed or unarmed . Buds usually with several exposed scales , sometimes with only 2. Leaves alternate, rarely opposite, simple or compound ; stipules paired , free or adnate to petiole , rarely absent, persistent or deciduous; petiole usually 2-glandular apically; leaf blade often serrate at margin , rarely entire . Inflorescences various, from single flowers to umbellate , corymbose , racemose or cymose-paniculate. Flowers usually actinomorphic , bisexual , rarely unisexual and then plants dioecious. Hypanthium (formed from basal parts of sepals, petals, and stamens) free from or adnate to ovary, short or elongate . Sepals usually 5, rarely fewer or more, imbricate; epicalyx segments sometimes also present. Petals as many as sepals, inserted below margin of disk, free, imbricate, sometimes absent. Disk lining hypanthium, usually entire, rarely lobed . Stamens usually numerous , rarely few, always in a complete ring at margin of or above disk; filaments usually free, very rarely connate ; anthers small, didymous , rarely elongate, 2-locular. Carpels 1 to many, free, or ± connate and then adnate to inner surface of cupular receptacle; ovary inferior, semi-inferior, or superior; ovules usually 2 in each carpel, rarely 1 or several, anatropous , superposed . Styles as many as carpels, terminal , lateral , or basal, free or sometimes connate. Fruit a follicle, pome, achene, or drupe, rarely a capsule, naked or enclosed in persistent hypanthium and sometimes also by sepals. Seeds erect or pendulous, sometimes winged , usually exalbuminous , very rarely with thin endosperm; cotyledons mostly fleshy and convex abaxially, rarely folded or convolute.

Between 95 and 125 genera and 2825-3500 species: cosmopolitan , mostly in N temperate zone; 55 genera (two endemic) and 950 species (546 endemic) in China.

Many plants of this family are of economic importance and contribute to people s livelihoods. The Rosaceae contain a great number of fruit trees of temperate regions . The fruits contain vitamins, acids, and sugars and can be used both raw and for making preserves, jam, jelly, candy, various drinks, wine, vinegar, etc. The dried fruits of the genera

Amygdalus and Armeniaca are of high commercial value. Some plants in the genus Rosa containing essential oils or with a high vitamin content are used in industry . Rosaceae wood is used for making various articles, stems and roots are used for making tannin extract, and young leaves are used as a substitute for tea. Numerous species are used for medical purposes or are cultivated as ornamentals .

The Rosaceae are very well represented in China, with great economic and scientific importance. The Co-chairs of the Editorial Committee (Wu and Raven) here note that the patterns of relationship are complex and the group is taxonomically difficult. [1]

Genus Prunus

Trees or shrubs , deciduous. Branchlets sometimes spine-tipped. Axillary winter bud solitary, ovoid ; terminal winter bud absent. Stipules membranous, soon caducous . Leaves simple , alternate, convolute [or conduplicate ] when young; petiolate or sessile; petiole apex or base of leaf blade margin with or without nectaries; leaf blade margin variously crenate or coarsely serrate. Inflorescences apparently axillary, solitary or to 3-flowered in a fascicle; bracts small, soon caducous. Flowers opening before or at same time as leaves. Hypanthium campanulate . Sepals 5, imbricate. Petals 5, white, sometimes purple-veined, rarely greenish, inserted on rim of hypanthium, imbricate. Stamens 20-30, in 2 whorls; filaments unequal. Carpel 1; ovary superior, 1-loculed, glabrous or sometimes villous ; ovules 2, collateral , pendulous. Style terminal, elongated. Fruit a drupe, glabrous, often glaucous, usually with a longitudinal groove ; mesocarp fleshy , not splitting when ripe ; endocarp laterally compressed , smooth , rarely grooved or rugose .

About 30 species: Asia, Europe, North America; seven species (two endemic, three introduced ) in China.

Many plum species are cultivated for their edible fruit and some for their flowers.[2]

Physical Description

Species Prunus spinosa

Shrubs , rarely trees , 4-8 m tall. Branches reddish brown, robust , glabrous , spiny ; branchlets reddish brown, densely pubescent . Winter buds purplish red, pubescent. Stipules lanceolate, margin glandular , apex acuminate. Petiole 5-7 mm, pubescent, without nectaries; leaf blade oblong-obovate, elliptic-ovate, or rarely oblong , 2-4 × 0.8-1.8 cm, abaxially yellowish green and pubescent, adaxially dark green and sparsely appressed pubescent, glabrescent , base subrounded to broadly cuneate, margin crenate or sometimes doubly crenate , apex acute to obtuse ; secondary veins 4 or 5(-8) on either side of midvein . Flowers solitary, opening before leaves, 1-1.5 cm in diam. Pedicel 6-8(-15) mm, glabrous or sparsely pubescent. Hypanthium outside glabrous. Sepals triangular-ovate, outside glabrous, margin serrulate, apex acute. Petals white with pale purple veins, oblong, base cuneate, apex obtuse. Stamens 20-25. Ovary glabrous. Stigma capitate. Drupe black, globose , broadly ellipsoid , or conical , 1-1.5 cm in diam., glabrous, glaucous; mesocarp green; endocarp brown, ovoid to ellipsoid, ± flattened, rugose . Fl. Apr, fr. Aug. [source]

Habit: Tree , Shrub

Flowers: Beautiful fragrant flowers in spring . Flowers have five petals, five sepals. • Bloom Period: January, February. • Flower Color: near white, white

Seeds: Fruit: A drupe with a large stone .

Foliage: Summer foliage: Leaves are smooth , simple , broad, ovate or broad-eliptic or lanceolate, unlobed and toothed along the margin . Color is medium green.

Size/Age/Growth

Size: 4-6' tall.

Landscaping

Care: Low maintenance . Tolerates rabbits. Young plants need extra phosphorus to encourage good root development.

Habitat

 

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 2,500 meters (0 to 8,202 feet).[3]

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Space 15-18" apart.

Soil: Tolerates a range of pH, from 4.5 to 7.5, and soil ranging from sandy loam to some clay . Soil can be normal to moist. • Minimum pH: 6.1 • Maximum pH: 8.5

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b. (map)

Taxonomy

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Unambiguous Synonyms

  1. Druparia spinosa Clairv.
  2. Prunus domestica Linnaeus var. spinosa (Linnaeus) Kuntze.
  3. Prunus domestica var. spinosa (L.) Kuntze
  4. Prunus spinosa var. typica C. K. Schneid.

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: –

Place of publication : Sp. pl. 1:475. 1753

Name verified on 24-Jan-2001 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 13-Oct-2004

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Prunus

There are approximately 4469 species in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

P. acacia · P. acacia-germanica · P. 'Accolade' (Flowering Cherry) · P. accumulans · P. acida · P. acinaria · P. acuminata · P. acutifolia · P. acutiserrata · P. acutissima · P. adenodonta · P. adenophora · P. adenophylla · P. adenopoda · P. aequinoctialis · P. aestiva · P. affinis · P. afghana · P. africana (Red Stinkwood) · P. agrestis · P. aitchisonii · P. alabamensis · P. alaica · P. albicaulis · P. alleghaniensis (Allegheny Plum) · P. alleghaniensis var. alleghaniensis · P. alleghaniensis var. davisii · P. allegheniensis · P. aloocha · P. alpestris · P. alpina · P. 'Amanogawa' · P. amarella · P. 'Amayadori' · P. ambigua · P. amelanchier · P. amelanchieriflora · P. americana (American Red Plum) · P. americana f. rosea · P. americana forma rosea · P. americana lanata · P. americana nigra · P. americana subvar. acuminata · P. americana var. floridana · P. americana var. mollis · P. americana var. rosea · P. americana x hortulana · P. americana x munsoniana · P. americana x pumila · P. americana x salicina · P. americana x simonii · P. americana x triflora · P. americana x utahensis · P. americanum · P. ampla · P. amplifolia · P. amygdaliformis · P. amygdalina · P. amygdalo-persica · P. amygdalopersica · P. amygdalus (Chokecherry) · P. amygdalus 'All in One' (Almond) · P. amygdalus f. angustifolia · P. amygdalus f. pendula · P. amygdalus forma angustifolia · P. amygdalus forma pendula · P. amygdalus 'Garden Prince' (Almond) · P. amygdalus 'Neplus' (Almond) · P. amygdalus 'Nonpareil' (Almond) · P. amygdalus var. macrocarpa · P. amygdalus var. ovalifolia · P. amygdalus var. pendula · P. amygdalus var. pollardii · P. amygdalus var. praecox · P. anadenia · P. anceps · P. andersonii (Anderson's Peachbrush) · P. angustifolia (Florida Sand Plum) · P. angustifolia 'Guthrie' (Chickasaw Plum) · P. angustifolia var. angustifolia · P. angustifolia var. varians · P. angustifolia var. varians x munsoniana · P. angustifolia var. watsoni · P. angustifolia var. watsonii (Watsons Plum) · P. angustifolia var. watsonii (Sarg.) Waugh · P. angustifolia varians · P. angustifolia x salicina · P. angustifolia x triflora · P. angustissima · P. annularis · P. anomala · P. ansu · P. antilibanotica · P. antiqua · P. apetala · P. apetala f. multipetala · P. apetala forma multipetala · P. apetala var. monticola · P. apetala var. pilosa · P. apetala var. typica

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal January 29, 2008:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Cuizhi Gu, Chaoluan Li, Lingdi Lu, Shunyuan Jiang, Crinan Alexander, Bruce Bartholomew, Anthony R. Brach, David E. Boufford, Hiroshi Ikeda, Hideaki Ohba, Kenneth R. Robertson & Steven A. Spongberg "Rosaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 9 Page 46. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. Ku Tsue-chih, Bruce Bartholomew "Prunus". in Flora of China Vol. 9 Page 401. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. Mean = 210.840 meters (691.732 feet), Standard Deviation = 302.170 based on 20,000 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 2009-05-18