Sloes or Wild Damsons or ...?

[munkee]

Hi all, Any idea what these are? Picked today

I've picked a load of Sloes this year and these aren't the same as these - These have a tart taste but the flesh looks like a damson/plums, only they are tiny, tiny in size. They came of a branch which had quite long thorns.

Please help! A tip what to do with them wouldn't go a miss

 

[shaggystu]

bullace?

stuart

 

[blacktimberwolf]

Bit late in the year for damsons..........open one up to see if there is a plum stone......
Shaggystu's suggestion may be the right one..

 

[British Red]

Small for a Bullace - right colour and flesh type though. My Bullaces are sweeter than plums though - gorgeous things

These are mine


August Bullace by British Red, on Flickr

About the size of a gobstopper or large cherry tomato

 

[kram245]

I picked some sloes last month and on one bush they were really plump, almost like black grapes. I put it down to good growing conditions for all fruit this year. My guess they are sloes, have you tried a taste test?

 

[Iona]

All of the plants in this family cross pollinate and there are an innordinate number of variations! I've had pink and green and yellow fruits that are classed as bullaces, and sloes I've picked have varied in size so much in one hedgerow that one's often nearly triple the size of another... So I think it's a safe bet that it's somewhere inbetween! As all of these things can be used in similar ways I'd taste one, decide what it's most suited to (Jelly, jam, chutney, wine etc, and try it out. Although you'll never go wrong popping any of the above into gin!