Trees to look for in April — Blackthorn

Photo credit: Tamsin Bent

Where to look

It grows best in moist, well-drained soil in full sunlight. It grows naturally in scrub, copses and woodland, but is commonly used as a hedging plant.

Description

Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) is a small tree native to the UK. They are often found in hedges and because they are so spikey they are good at stopping animals escaping from their fields. They can live up to a hundred years! In April, they stand out from other trees because of the masses of white, insect pollinated flowers. Their flowers are hermaphrodite (made up of both male and female parts) and once pollinated they produce blue-black fruit known as sloes. Sloes aren’t in fact berries, but are drupes, a fleshy fruit with thin skin and a central stone containing the seed, like a plum or a peach. The blackthorn depends on birds and mammals eating the sloes and spreading the seed through their poo!

For more info see https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/british-trees/a-z-of-british-trees/blackthorn/

Spottings

Solomon

Solo,om

Victoria

Tamsin

Lana

Chloe

Katie

“We saw blackthorn at the Devil's Pulpit.”

Miliana

“I found blackthorn in the hedge behind our shed.”

Maisie-Jane

“I saw blackthorn in the hedges on our walk.”

Lexi

“I found blackthorn along the lane where I live.”

Ava

“I spotted it in Tutshill.”

Isabelle

“Blackthorn on a grey day.”

Pops

“White snow flurry of blossombeginning to fall after the rain.”

Ewan

“In our hedge. It's not yet in flower but has huge spikes.”

Xavier

Julie

“Capels Mill, by the Crossing. It was beautiful.”

Carol

Ella

Daisy

“I found this while walking down to the beach. It is quite common in this area”

Gavin

“Spotted in New Polzeath, Cornwall.”

Tamsin B

Where we've found Blackthorns

Blackthorn spottings journal (28 seen)

Last seen	Location	Spotted by	Group	Notes
28 Feb 2024			Stroud Valleys Project
22 Mar 2023			Stroud Valleys Project
28 Apr 2022	king Stanley	Solomon	Foxmoor Primary
28 Apr 2022	King Stanley	Solo,om	Foxmoor Primary
28 Apr 2022	Bristol	Victoria	Foxmoor Primary
15 Mar 2022			Stroud Valleys Project
16 Apr 2021	Capel's Mill	Tamsin	Stroud Valleys Project
5 May 2020	Snuff mills	Lana	The Emmetts
30 Apr 2020			Trinity
30 Apr 2020	Sheepscombe	Chloe	Trinity
30 Apr 2020	Tintern	Katie	St John's on-the-Hill	We saw blackthorn at the Devil's Pulpit.
30 Apr 2020	Salisbury	Miliana	St John's on-the-Hill	I found blackthorn in the hedge behind our shed.
30 Apr 2020	Undy	Maisie-Jane	St John's on-the-Hill	I saw blackthorn in the hedges on our walk.
30 Apr 2020	Tidenham	Lexi	St John's on-the-Hill	I found blackthorn along the lane where I live.
30 Apr 2020	Tutshill.	Ava	St John's on-the-Hill	I spotted it in Tutshill.
30 Apr 2020	Lydney	Isabelle	St John's on-the-Hill	Blackthorn on a grey day.
29 Apr 2020	SN10 2ES	Pops	Cooks&Co	White snow flurry of blossombeginning to fall after the rain.
28 Apr 2020		Ewan	St John's on-the-Hill	In our hedge. It's not yet in flower but has huge spikes.
14 Apr 2020	fields on summer street		Stroud Valley Community School
11 Apr 2020	Workman woods	Xavier	MogsHouse
8 Apr 2020			Lost in the Wild
7 Apr 2020	Capel's Mill	Jo	The Weaver's
3 Apr 2020		Julie	Wickham Bassetts at Home	Capels Mill, by the Crossing. It was beautiful.
30 Mar 2020	Westrip, Stroud	Carol	ClH
30 Mar 2020	Folly Lane	Ella	The Weaver's
28 Mar 2020	New Polzeath	Daisy	Blended	I found this while walking down to the beach. It is quite common in this area
24 Mar 2020	New Polzeath, Cornwall.	Gavin	Blended	Spotted in New Polzeath, Cornwall.
2 Mar 2020	Stratford Park	Tamsin B	Stroud Valleys Project

← OTHER THINGS TO LOOK FOR THIS MONTH