Prunus spinosa the British Army, blackthorn sticks are carried by commissioned officers of the Royal Irish Regiment; this is a tradition also in Irish regiments in some Commonwealth countries. The leaves resemble tea leaves, and were used as an adulterant of tea. Shlomo Yitzhaki, a Talmudist and Tanakh commentator of the High Middle Ages, writes that the sap (or gum) of "P. spinosa" (which he refers to as the ) was used as an ingredient in the making of some inks used for manuscripts. The fruit stones have been found in Swiss lake dwellings. Evidence of the early use of sloes by
Prunus 'Climax' flesh clings to the stone. The skin is dark red with yellow spots, and somewhat unpleasant in flavour, but peels away easily from the flesh when the fruit is fully ripe. Prunus 'Climax' 'Climax' is a "Prunus" cultivar, considered to be a plum. It was introduced in 1899 by plant breeder Luther Burbank. Burbank devoted a lot of work to hybridizing two plum species, the apricot plum or Simon plum "Prunus simonii" and the Japanese plum "Prunus salicina". He developed a number of cultivars from the hybrid, of which 'Climax' was particularly notable for its importance to the fruit shipping