Blackthorn Blossom
prunus spinosa
One of the early joys of spring - As the weather starts to warm, and before the cherry trees get going, a profusion of white flowers explode from the branches of blackthorn.
Similar flowers to hawthorn, and they're often found together in hedgerows, but easily distinguished by blackthorn flowers covering the branches before the leaves.
Blackthorn is the almost exclusive food-plant of the caterpillars of the rare and elusive black hairstreak butterfly, with this particular woodland in the UK midlands being one of the few where they will emerge for a brief time in early summer.
Also known as sloe, more enjoyment will arrive with autumn when the long faded flowers are replaced by fruits used for making sloe gin.
