Sloe

Sloe (Prunus spinosa), also known as BLACKTHORN, with dark-grey bark, spinous branches, precocious white flowers, elliptical leaves, and globose, dark-purple, glaucous drupes. The shoots make excellent walking-sticks: the leaves are said to be used to adulterate tea; and the fruits, which are sour and rough in taste, are eaten by children, preserved, and used to flavour spirits. The shrub is the badge of the M'Quarrie clan.