Prunus spinosa of the fruit caused by the fungus "Taphrina pruni" produces an elongated and flattened gall, devoid of a stone. The shrub, with its savage thorns, is traditionally used in Britain and other parts of northern Europe to make a "cattle-proof" hedge. The fruit is similar to a small damson or plum, suitable for preserves, but rather and for eating, unless it is picked after the first few days of autumn frost. This effect can be reproduced by freezing harvested sloes. The juice is used in the manufacture of fake port wine, and used as an to impart roughness to genuine
Tetradymia spinosa flower heads which are each enveloped in four to six woolly phyllaries. Each head contains up to 8 tubular yellow flowers up to a centimeter long. The fruit is a densely hairy achene which may be nearly 2 centimeters long, including its pappus of long bristles. Tetradymia spinosa Tetradymia spinosa is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name shortspine horsebrush. It is native to the western United States, especially the basins and plateaus west of the Rocky Mountains. It grows in sagebrush, woodlands, and scrub habitat, often among shadscale in alkaline areas such