blackthorn

Table of Contents

Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images

Read Next

Britannica’s Flower Bingo

Plant seedlings emerging from rich fertile soil

Do Plants Feel Pain?

Macro image of pollen-covered bee on purple crocus. (flowers, stamen, pollination, insects, nature)

5 Fast Facts About Flower Anatomy

Anemone coronaria, the poppy anemone, Spanish marigold, or windflower, is a species of flowering plant.

What’s the Difference Between Angiosperms and Gymnosperms?

9 Mind-Altering Plants

Discover

The Colosseum, Rome, Italy. Giant amphitheatre built in Rome under the Flavian emperors. (ancient architecture; architectural ruins)

New Seven Wonders of the World

Secret Service Agent Listens To Earpiece

Secret Service Code Names of 11 U.S. Presidents

Binary Computer Code, Binary Code, Internet, Technology, Password, Data

How Does Wi-Fi Work?

In this aerial photo, structures are damaged and destroyed October 15, 2005 in Balakot, Pakistan. It is estimated that 90% of the city of Balakot was leveled by the earthquake. The death toll in the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck northern Pakistan on October 8, 2005 is believed to be 38,000 with at least 1,300 more dead in Indian Kashmir. SEE CONTENT NOTES.

6 of the World’s Deadliest Natural Disasters

Which Waters Do You Pass Through When You “Sail the Seven Seas”?

Parsons Weems' Fable, oil on canvas by Grant Wood, 1939; in the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Catalog entry: The historian Mason Locke Weems, commonly known by his clerical title, Parson Weems, pulls back a curtain to point at 6-year-old George Washington. Bearing an adult head and holding an axe, George gazes blankly up at his father, Augustine, who questions his son while holding a partially cut cherry tree. All of this takes place in front of a 20th-century brick building, which Wood modeled after his own home in Iowa. The scene illustrates the fable of Washington and the cherry tree, which Weems invented in 1806 for the first president's biography. Wood playfully suggests the artifice of the tale here, presenting the story in the manner of a costumed stage play rather than a real event. Amid the action, two Black figures pick cherries in the background, a reference to Washington' slaveholding past and a reminder of of what often gets left out in historical mythmaking.

Did George Washington Really Say, “I Can’t Tell a Lie”?

winter ice melting salt on the ground, pattern as background

Why Does Salt Melt Ice?

blackthorn

shrub

Also known as: Prunus spinosa, sloe

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Dec 28, 2024 • Article History

Also called:: sloe

Related Topics:: Prunus; sloe gin

See all related content

blackthorn, (Prunus spinosa), spiny shrub of the rose family, native to Europe but cultivated in other regions. The plant’s dense growth makes it suitable for hedges, and the tart fruit is used to flavor sloe gin.

Blackthorn usually grows less than 3.6 meters (12 feet) tall and has numerous small deciduous leaves. The white flowers, about 2 cm (0.8 inch) in diameter, have five petals and appear before the leaves in the spring. The bluish black fruit is a drupe, about 2 cm in diameter.

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperm
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Prunus

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Melissa Petruzzello.