Prunus spinosa insect-pollinated. The fruit, called a "sloe", is a drupe in diameter, black with a 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 fresh. "Prunus spinosa" is frequently confused with the related "P. cerasifera" (cherry plum), particularly in early spring when the latter starts flowering somewhat earlier than "P. spinosa". They can be distinguished by flower colour, creamy white in "P. spinosa", pure white in "P. cerasifera". They can also be distinguished in winter by
Prunus pseudocerasus has been cultivated for its edible (if tart) fruit for around 2000 years. In Japan it is favored as an ornamental tree for its tendency to bloom, flowers before leaves, earlier than the Japanese cherry "Prunus serrulata". A tetraploid with 2n=32 chromosomes, it is used as rootstock for other flowering cherries. It is the parent of a number of hybrid cultivars. It is resistant to the fungal disease cherry leaf spot. Prunus pseudocerasus Prunus pseudocerasus or Prunus pseudo-cerasus, the Chinese sour cherry or just Chinese cherry, is a species of cherry native to China and is used worldwide as an