The fruit, called a "sloe", is a drupe 10–12 millimetres ( 3⁄ 8– 1⁄ 2 in) in diameter, black with a purple-blue waxy bloom, ripening in autumn and traditionally harvested – at least in the UK – in October or November, after the first frosts.
The flowers are about 1.5 cm ( 1⁄ 2 in) in diameter, with five creamy-white petals they are produced shortly before the leaves in early spring, and are hermaphroditic, and insect-pollinated. The leaves are oval, 2–4.5 centimetres ( 3⁄ 4– 1 + 3⁄ 4 inches) long and 1.2–2 cm ( 1⁄ 2– 3⁄ 4 in) broad, with a serrated margin. Prunus spinosa is a large deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 5 metres (16 feet) tall, with blackish bark and dense, stiff, spiny branches. The wood is used to make walking sticks, including the Irish shillelagh. The fruits are used to make sloe gin in Britain and patxaran in Spain. It is locally naturalized in New Zealand, Tasmania, and the Pacific Northwest and New England regions of the United States. The species is native to Europe, western Asia, and regionally in northwest Africa. Prunus spinosa, called blackthorn or sloe, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae.
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