IDENTIFICATION

It is a bush (up to 2,5 m high), deciduous, with a dense foliage in an alternating setting diverging from the branches. The bark is brown, dark and shiny. The branches are short and thorny, covered with hair when they are young. The leaves are oval, almost elliptic, with the apex a bit pointed and the edge slightly serrated. The beam can have fur whereas the underside is whitish and is densely covered with hairs. The flowers appear solitary or in groups of 2 to 3. They are white, with five petals, numerous yarns of an intense yellow colour, very similar to those of the almond tree. The fruit is a drupe (fleshy fruit with a single pit), rounded (like a plum, of 10 to 15 mm), of a very characteristic dark blue or metallic colour. It has a whitish colour, like a fine dust (called the bloom) and the pulp is greenish.

WHERE DOES IT LIVE?

This species is part of thorny forest edges. This species accompanies  the holm oaks, gall oaks and pine forests, always associated to fresh areas with a certain humidity, valleys, ravines and dells. It prefers cleared areas, between 200 and 1800 meters above the sea level. It has a certain preference for calcareous substrates. 

HOW DOES IT LIVE?

It is a monoecious species with solitary and hermaphrodite flowers (both sexes can develop in a single specimen and in a single flower). The pollination is entomophil (aided by insects, mostly bees and butterflies). It is sexually self-incompatible (it can not self-pollinate), so the presence of other specimens nearby is necessary for its pollination. The fruit is bitter and acid for humans, but it appears to be very tasty to the animals who help its dispersion by ingesting it. It flowers from April to May and fruits from September to October.

WHERE CAN WE SEE IT IN THE MALAGA PROVINCE?

This bush appears on a disperse way throughout the Malaga province, always linked to forest masses or other well developed species. It is abundant in the province North-eastern mountains ranges (Sierra de Camarolos, El Jobo and San Jorge), the Archidona mountains range and El Torcal, as well as in the Ronda mountains range. In the Great Path (Gran Senda), we can observe it on stages 10 to 14.

CURIOUS FACTS

The blackthorn has been used since ancient times as a medicinal and alimentary plant. The blackthorns are the base ingredient in the preparation of marmalades and jellies, as well as to make the pacharan liquor. By the way, it is also used to flavor other liquors. The blackthorns have come to be a trading product so important that blackthorn crops of an excellent industrial and agronomic quality have been obtained.

SIMILAR SPECIES

It can be confused with other species of the Prunus gender (almond tree, cherry tree, peach tree...) as they are all quite similar. The only way to differentiate this species from the others is its larger fruit with a better taste, as well as its almost tree bearing and greater foliage.