Shillelagh (club) Shillelagh (club) A shillelagh ( or ; , "thonged willow") or blackthorn stick is a wooden walking stick and club or cudgel, typically made from a stout knotty stick with a large knob at the top. It is associated with Ireland and Irish folklore. Shillelaghs are traditionally made from blackthorn (sloe) wood ("Prunus spinosa") or oak. Wood from the root was prized as it was less prone to crack or break during use. The wood would be smeared with butter or lard, and placed up a chimney to cure, giving the shillelagh its typical black shiny appearance. Another method was
Prunus tianshanica Prunus tianshanica Prunus tianshanica, the Tianshan cherry, is a species of cherry native to the Tianshan Mountains of Central Asia, preferring to grow at 800-1000m. "Prunus tianshanica" is a shrub reaching . The bark is grey, turning browner with age. The flowers are pink, and the dark red fruits, although small, are high in sugar and pleasant to the taste. It hybridizes naturally with "Prunus cerasifera", and the offspring produce fruit. A phylogenetic reconstruction using twelve chloroplast loci and three nuclear genes of 84 species of "Prunus" shows that "Cerasus" is indisputably a synonym (and subgenus) of "Prunus" and that