Prunus spinosaL. Blackthorn Pulm

Prunus spinosaL. - Blackthorn Pulm

Scientific Description:

Spiny shrubs or small trees; twigs pubescent. Leaves up to 5 × 2.5 cm, obovate to elliptic, crenate-serrate, glabrescent above, persistently pubescent beneath. Petioles up to c. 1 cm. Flowers white, 1(−2), appearing before the leaves, c. 1.5 cm diam; pedicels up to 1 cm, pubescent; sepals ciliate, glabrous to pubescent. Drupes erect, globose, 10−15 mm diam., bluish-black pruinose, flesh green, sour; stone adherent to pericarp, smooth or slightly scabrous.

 

Flowering time: March−April.

Habitat: In scrub and forest remnants, s.l.−1700 m.

 

Reference:
Browicz K (1972). Prunus spinosa L., In: Davis PH (ed.), Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, Edinburgh University Press, Edinurgh, 4: 9.

Public Description:

Prunus spinosa, commonly known as “blackthorn pulm”, is native to Europe, western Asia, and locally in northwest Africa. It is a spiny shrub or small tree with white flowers. It blooms between March and April and is found in shrub and forest remnants. The fruits are similar to a small damson or plum, but has a sour and bitter taste. Extracts of the plant was used as an ingredient in the making of some inks. Otzi is a ice-man who is a 5,300-year-old human mummy discovered in 1991 in the Ötztal Alps along the Austrian-Italian border. The fruit of this plant were found in Otzi's stomach contents.

 

References:

Anonymous (2016). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunus_spinosa/,Accessed date: 31.05.2016.

Aslan S (2012) Prunus L., In: Güner, A., Aslan, S., Ekim, T., Vural, M. & Babaç, M.T. (eds.), Türkiye Bitkileri Listesi (Damarlı Bitkiler). Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi ve Flora Araştırmaları Derneği Yayını. İstanbul, pp. 808.