Content
- Which deciduous tree is armed with thorns?
- Deciduous trees with thorns - an overview
- Wild Prunus species
- Wild apple (Malus sylvestris)
- Wild pear (Pyrus pyraster)
- Holly (Ilex)
- American Sloth (Gleditsia triacanthos)
- Common Robinia (Robinia pseudoacacia)
- Tips
The American shrew bears interesting thorns
Which deciduous tree is armed with thorns?
Thorns on deciduous trees are rare, but occur mainly on wild fruit and on the local holly (Ilex aquifolium) on. The reinforcement serves as a defense against potential predators, so it has a biological meaning.
Deciduous trees with thorns - an overview
In addition to the deciduous trees listed here, some acacia species have thorns. However, the Acacieae originating from the tropics and subtropics, the correct botanical name, are not sufficiently hardy for us and can therefore only be kept in container culture.
Wild Prunus species
Plums, as well as mirabelles, red chives, plums and apricots often have thorns in their wild form, but often lose their shape with increasing age of the tree or shrub. Curly plum-like are often seedlings of cultivated forms or wild shoots, which grow from the underlay of a refinement.
Wild apple (Malus sylvestris)
The widespread in Central Europe wild apple, also referred to as a crab apple or crab apple, develops numerous twisting short shoots. Incidentally, this is not the archetype of our culture apple (Malus domestica) - this most likely comes from the Asian wild apple (Malus sieversii).
Wild pear (Pyrus pyraster)
Like the wild apple, the wild or wooden pear belongs to the rose family (Rosaceae). Like many members of the family, this up to 20-meter-tall tree has branches and branches reinforced with thorns.
Holly (Ilex)
The local holly is an evergreen, mostly multi-stemmed large shrub or a tree up to ten meters tall. Striking are the rough unmarried, shiny dark green leaves, which are more or less strongly wavy and prickly serrated on the edge. Thus, the thorns do not appear on the branches but on the leaves.
American Sloth (Gleditsia triacanthos)
Gleditschie is a solitary tree often planted in parks and along streets. The deciduous tree, which grows between ten and 25 meters tall, has a loose, irregular and broadly spreading crown. At trunk and branches can be formed numerous strong, simple or also branched thorns.
Common Robinia (Robinia pseudoacacia)
The up to 25 meters tall Robinie is often falsely referred to as "acacia", is related to this only very remote. Their branches and young branches are typically armed with strong thorns. Robinia is one of the most nectar- and sugar-rich bees.
Tips
If you encounter a deciduous tree with small cones during a walk, it is not a botanical sensation: instead, alders produce cone-like fruits.