Prunus spinosa man is found in the famous case of a 5,300-year-old human mummy discovered in 1991 in the Ötztal Alps along the Austrian-Italian border (nick-named Ötzi): among the stomach contents were sloes. A "sloe-thorn worm" used as fishing bait is mentioned in the 15th-century work, "The Treatyse of Fishing with an Angle", by Juliana Berners. The flowering of the blackthorn may have been associated with the ancient Celtic celebration of Imbolc. Prunus spinosa Prunus spinosa, called blackthorn or sloe, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae. It is native to Europe, western Asia, and locally in northwest
Prunus × cistena Prunus × cistena Prunus × cistena, the purple leaf sand cherry or dwarf red-leaf plum, is a hybrid species of prune-cherry, the result of a cross between "Prunus cerasifera" (cherry plum or myrobalan plum) and "Prunus pumila" (sand cherry). A leggy bush or shrubby tree, it typically reaches a height of 1.5–2.5 meters and has a useful life of 10–20 years. The fruit are edible, if strong-tasting. Some people make jams or preserves from them. It is not advisable to eat the pits. Frost-tolerant, purple leaf sand cherries can be grown up to USDA Hardiness Zone 2. Commercial specimens are