Sloes

[Kea]

On our allotment site a few years ago we planted a new hedge which includes Buckthorn. They fruited last year but disappeared quickly (the sloes I mean). This year I'm guessing they will again. However I have found another source of fruit that look like sloes and the trees are bigger and more mature but they don't seem to have the thorns. Are these just the adult form of the buckthorn?

[Kea]

[Robert_Brenchley]

Blackthorn (it's got loads of names) is always thorny, so my guess would be that you've found another plum. I'm no good at telling them apart.

[Unwashed]

Sloes grow on blackthorn, not buckthorn.  The shiny black berries on buckthorn are poisonous.

[aj]

An example of when you really need to be sure what you are growing or foraging from...

[Kea]

Sorry meant blackthorn  ::) :-[.....it was actually a typo.

Fortunately i can assure you it is not Buckthorn as it is definitely in the Prunus genus. The fruit is a drupe with a single seed/stone. Buckthorn has more than one seed.

[chriscross1966]

The bigger, less spiny bush/tree that seems to be sloes is actually the bullace, little known  but hardly rare... you only really get to notice them if they're not being pruned much, if they get regularly trimmed they're as thorny as a blackthorn. The fruit is a little bit less tart than a sloe, but is in no way something you'd want to try and eat raw :D We've got one outside the backl of our building at work that is a mature tree now, approx 20 feet tall...

chrisc

[superspud]

I have something in my garden that I am unsure off and may be relevant to this thread if at all, they seem to be prolific here and grow like a small bush, they have little white flowers with yellow centres and these turn into black berries of some sort, I just keep pulling them out and throwing them in the bin. No idea what they are though and I am not brave enough to try eating them untill I do.

[Digeroo]

What at the flowers of your little bushes like.  Are they like a potato?

[pumkinlover]

Superspud- does the flower come out before the leaves- blackthorn always flowers first.

[superspud]

Don't know to be honest,  I never pay them much attention except to rip them out when they grow a bit. I only know their a pain in the butt and very prolific here.

[antipodes]

Superspud it sounds suspiciously like a member of the Nightshade family...so highly toxic.
http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/site/plants_19.asp?catID=106

Most other berry types grow on woody stems which is an indicator for you.

[superspud]

Superspud it sounds suspiciously like a member of the Nightshade family...so highly toxic.
http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/site/plants_19.asp?catID=106

Most other berry types grow on woody stems which is an indicator for you.

BINGO !. glad I have not tried them then.........  

Actually my next obvious question is how to remove them permanently !.

[Unwashed]

I have something in my garden that I am unsure off and may be relevant to this thread if at all, they seem to be prolific here and grow like a small bush, they have little white flowers with yellow centres and these turn into black berries of some sort, I just keep pulling them out and throwing them in the bin. No idea what they are though and I am not brave enough to try eating them untill I do.

Antipodes's link is to black nightshade which can be a common garden weed (which roots quite tenaciously and typically won't be pulled out by the roots unless it's tiny) which is poisonous enough but no great worry.  But what you're describing is deadly nightshade - and deadly poisonous it is!  4' - 5' foot tall shrubby bush with shiny black marble-sized berries, three or four of which will kill you (I''ve been watching a hillside of the stuff around Danebury hill fort this summer).

I have to say that "No idea what they are though and I am not brave enough to try eating them untill I do." really worries me as it seems to admit the possibility that were you brave enough you'd eat something that you couldn't positively identify.  I really can't stress how important it is not to eat wild stuff that you can't definitevely and unequivocally identify as edible.

[marcitos]

Just a thought, but has anyone been growing Wonderberries or Huckleberries? I grow them & they reset from seed each year but not necessarily in the same place

[superspud]

Hi Unwashed, I never eat anything I dont recognise. As for deadly nightshade, no I think it is exactly what Antipodes posted me as they look exactly the same and I never let it get to 4' to find out if it will get that high. If your ever my way you can pop in for a look though, I know your only 3 miles or so from me.

[Kea]

I went back and had another look...the bush I'd looked at before must have been just a less thorny variant as all the neighbouring bushes/trees have the right sort of thorn's. Looking forward to the frost though I have picked some to freeze.

[Unwashed]

I went back and had another look...the bush I'd looked at before must have been just a less thorny variant as all the neighbouring bushes/trees have the right sort of thorn's. Looking forward to the frost though I have picked some to freeze.

I've never picked them before the frost believing it to improve their flavour, but around here the pheasants can scoff the lot before the first frosts arrive, so I think picking them now and putting them in the freezer for a bit is a good idea - and it does look to be a very good year this year.