Sloe berries on the blackthorn bush, Thorpe, peak district national park, Derbyshire,England,UK.
It is a deciduous large shrub or small tree growing to 5 m tall, with blackish bark and dense, stiff, spiny branches. The leaves are oval, 2– cm long and –2 cm broad, with a serrated margin. The flowers are cm diameter, with five slightly creamy-white petals; they are produced shortly before the leaves in early spring, and are hermaphroditic and insect-pollinated. The fruit, called a "sloe", is a drupe 10–12 mm in diameter, black with a pale purple-blue waxy bloom, ripening in autumn, and harvested — traditionally, at least in the UK, in October or November after the first frosts. Sloes are thin-fleshed, with a very strongly astringent flavour when fruit is similar to a small damson or plum, suitable for preserves, but rather tart and astringent for eating, unless deeply frozen, as is practised in eastern Europe. In rural Britain so-called sloe gin is made from them, though this is not a true gin but an infusion of vodka, gin, or neutral spirits with the fruit to produce a liqueur. In Navarre, Spain, a popular liqueur called patxaran is made with sloes. Sloes can also be made into jam and, if preserved in vinegar, are similar in taste to Japanese umeboshi.
Size: 5700px × 3800px
Location: Thorpe, peak district national park, Derbyshire,England,UK.
Photo credit: © Neil Dangerfield / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: autumn, berries, berry, black, blackthorn, bloom, blue, bunch, gin, leaves, lots, pale, prunus, purple, sloe, sloes, sour, spinosa, waxy
