Blackthorn

Prunus spinosa 

Description and Habitat
The Blackthorn - Prunus spinosa is also known as Snag or its Latin name is translated literally as spiny plum. It is technically a shrub but frequently grows to small tree height. It is native throughout the British Isles and is commonly planted in hedges or found in woodland edges and left unchecked will grow prolifically. It is resistant to gales and salt laden winds. The tree is distinguished by its thorny, unapproachable thickets which give invaluable protection to flora and fauna surrounding it. During spring it has white flowers which can lead to the common mistake of mixing it with the Hawthorn when in blossom. As Blackthorn often blossoms during March, during the period of cold east winds, a cold spring was often known as a ‘Blackthorn Winter’.

Blackthorn will grow in most conditions and soil types but prefers to be in the light. It will produce a high yield of blue-black fruits, known as sloes which is commonly used in jams or wine as well as flavouring gin. The fruit is too bitter to eat on its own. It is thought that the blackthorn is one of the parents to the domestic damson and other plums.

The wood has a light yellow sapwood and a brown heartwood. It is a tough and hard wood that takes well to being highly polished.

Uses
As the Blackthorn yields only small amounts of wood, it is mostly used for making teeth on hayracks, parquetry and for walking sticks or any other small item. With polishing it has a rich colour. The wood used when making Irish shillelaghs or cudgels which are used in the fighting sports. Other uses for blackthorn include using the thorns to make an awls, a marking tool in leather work.

Farmers have been known to use whole bushes or branches and sweep the fields after it has been ploughed, using the tree as a rake. Other uses include using the bark, fruit and leaves for dyes.

The sloes are frequently used in cooking. As with many fruits they sloes are best picked after a frost as this soften the skins. A traditional method of ripening the fruit was to bury them in a straw lined pit for several months. Archaeological digs around Glastonbury have revealed just such pits.

Medicinal 
The flowers, bark, leaves and sloes can be used to treat a variety of ailments as they are aperients, astringent, depurative, diaphoretic, diuretic, febrifuge, laxative and stomachic. By infusing the flowers it becomes an especially usefully treatment for diarrhoea, bladder and kidney disorders and other stomach problems. The sloe berries make a very bitter tonic it helps to stimulate the metabolism, clean the blood and can be used as a laxative and a diuretic. They also help with indigestion, skin conditions such as eczema, as well as herpes, allergies, colds, catarrh, neurosis, bladder and prostate problems. The sloe berry is rich in vitamin C and can be traced to the 17^th and 18^th Century as a brewed sloe tonic to treat ‘fluxes in the belly’.

Folklore
Blackthorn blossom is considered an emblem of life and death together as the flowers appear when the tree has no leaves and bares only the thorns. Bringing the blossom into your home meant that death would soon to follow as well as wearing the blossom in your button hole would bring you bad luck. A tradition in Herefordshire and Worcestershire was to make a wreath of Blackthorn twigs, that would be scorched on the New Years fire in the morning then burned in the wheat fields amongst the furrows. The ashes were then scattered over the wheat as an offering to ward off evil. A new wreath would then be made and hung in the home until the next year. A similar practice was to combine mistletoe for good luck.

Other beliefs include never planting Blackthorn too close together, in groups of threes or near Hawthorn. It was thought that the Hawthorn would destroy the Blackthorn. On the Isle of Man, it is believed that if the Blackthorn and the Hawthorn have a good berry yield then the ensuing Winter would be severe.

In Irish folklore it was believed that the all the "little people" lived in Blackthorn bushes. The Lunantishees Faeries are said to guard Blackthorn trees. They will not allow you to cut any branches off until 11^th November or 11^th May, if you do try to take Blackthorn at any other time you will be cursed with bad luck. Another belief was that a Blackthorn wand with thorns fixed to the ends was harmful; while a carved rod carried by Devonshire witches was thought to cause miscarriage.

Blackthorn is often seen as an ‘evil’ wood. Its has been said that Jesus was crucified with a crown of Blackthorn and thus has tarnished the trees reputation. Many healers etc that used the wood have been invariably seen as ‘evil’, hence its unwarranted connection to black magic. Its reputation has not been helped by any accidental scratches with the thorns going septic. Blackthorn, including most of the Rose family, have a coating on the thorn that is an irritant to the skin and often when the Blackthorn pricks you, as with any Rose, its outer skin will remain inside the skin irritating the skin.