Christ's Thorn (Paliuris spina-christi)

At a glance

Lifecycle: Perennial (hardy)
Exposure: Full sun
Frost limit: −12.2 °C

Cultivation

Succeeds in an ordinary well-drained garden soil in full sun. Hardy to about -15°c. The branches are pliable and excessively spiny. Plants can regrow from the base if they are cut back by severe weather. The flowers are slightly perfumed. Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus.

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame and moved into the greenhouse in February. Fair to good germination. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and overwinter them in the greenhouse for their first year. Plant them out in early summer. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame. Root cuttings 4cm long, December in a greenhouse. Fair to good percentage. Layering

Edible uses

Fruit - raw or dried for later use. A pleasant sub-acid taste, somewhat resembling dried apples.

Medicinal uses

Anticathartic, astringent, diuretic and tonic.

Material uses

The plants are used for hedging, they have a loose but bushy habit.

Habitat

Hedges, roadsides and thickets, in maquis and garigue on dry sandy hills to 3000 metres.

Native range

S. Europe to W. Asia.