Description
- The sloe can be used to make wine, cordial, jams and jellies
- the juice from unripe fruit can be used as an ink for cloth and is almost impossible to wash out.
- Dye can be obtained from the bark, leaves and fruit.
- The sloe berry is a drupe 1012mm in diameter, black in colour when ripe with a blueish-purple waxy bloom.
- Must be infused in boiling water prior to consumption.
The sloe is a deciduous shrub or small tree native to Europe, western Asia, and northwest Africa. It can reach a height of 5-7 metres; the bark is tough and black. The thorny branches bear dark green glossy leaves that are 2-5cm in length, ovate in shape with a serrated edge. The hermaphrodite, 5-petaled flowers are 1.5 cm diameter, creamy-white in colour and form clusters which appear before the leaves in early spring. The sloe berry is a drupe 1012mm in diameter, black in colour when ripe with a blueish-purple waxy bloom. - Must be infused in boiling water prior to consumption.