Prunus spinosa L.
P. spinosa subsp. fruticans (Weihe) Nyman
Eng.: Blackthorn. Spa.: Endrino. Fre.: Prunellier, épine noir. Ara.: Berkuk el maïz.
Shrub, deciduous (although in humid deeper soils it is almost a small tree) hermaphrodite, ± thorny, up to 2(6) m in height. When growing in rocky areas or when heavily grazed by livestock, it can become a very thorny and intricate subshrub. Main stem with greyish-brown bark, fissured longitudinally in older specimens. Branches dark-brown, ending into a rigid thorn. Younger parts of the branches are somewhat pubescent. Leaves [(1)2-4(5) × 0.5-2.5(3) cm] alternate, obovate or obovate-oblong, obtuse or rounded, sometimes acute and acuminate at the tip and ± cuneiform at the base, crenate or finely serrated margin, glabrous or glabrescent; and intense light green and hairy (at least on the veins) on the upper side and somewhat duller on the underside —hairy on both sides when young, but it can be sometimes completely glabrous when adult—. Petiole pubescent 2-11 mm long; stipules promptly caducous. Flowers solitary or in fascicles with few flowers (2-3 flowers). Flower 1-2 cm in diameter on glabrous pedicel, very short (0.5-1 cm). Calyx with 5 sepals, 2-3 mm, oval-triangular, green. Corolla with 5 petals, oval or oval-oblong, obtuse, 4-10 mm long, white. Stamens numerous (15-25) with white filaments and yellow or reddish anthers. Fruit a globose drupe, about 10-15 mm, upright, not pendant, glabrous, bright blackish, covered with of a bluish-white powder. Seed rounded, slightly compressed, smooth or somewhat rugose.
Flowering:
January to April.
Fruiting:
August to October.
Habitat:
Forests, thickets and rocky outcrops of low and medium mountain, in humid to subhumid environment.
Distribution:
Mediterranean region, central and eastern Europe, western Asia. In North Africa it is a very rare species in Morocco (only known in the northern Middle Atlas) and slightly more common in Algeria (Tellian Atlas and Aures) and Tunisia (Quercus faginea and Q. suber forests on the NW area).
Observations:
P. spinosa and P. insititia L. are very closely related species but, if there is no hybridisation, a detailed examination can easily separate them. The hybrids between these species, and by extension of P. spinosa, on many occasions have been known by the name of P. fruticans Weihe or P. spinosa subsp. fruticans (Weihe) Nyman.
Conservation status:
Rare but widely distributed species, does not seem threatened. In the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species it is listed as Least Concern (LC) at global level (Rhodes & Maxted, 2016).