Scientific name: Prunus spinosa L.
Common name: Blackthorn
Description
Habit: A woody, deciduous, dense, spiny, bushy shrub, to 4 m high.
Leaves: Alternate, 1-3.5 cm, stalked, with small stipules, undivided, toothed, oval, finely toothed, almost hairless.
Flowers: White, actinomorphic, hermaphrodite, appearing before the leaves, solitary or in racemes; calyx of 5-toothed, basin-shaped, not persisting in fruit; petals 5, free; stamens numerous; carpel 1; with hypanthium.
Fruits: A drupe, round, 8-15 mm, bluish black.
Twigs: Dark greyish brown or blackish, ending in a stout spine.
Bark: Dark greyish brown or blackish.
Habitat: Hedges, thickets, undergrazed pastures, limestone pavement.Distribution: Abundant throughout the Burren, frequent elsewhere on the limestone and on Clare shales, occasional elsewhere.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No