Black Magic

Blackthorn. Prunus spinosa. Co-equal with Hawthorn ("May", "Whitethorn") as the backbone of English Midlands hedgerows. Perfect as a stockproof barrier. Easily "layed", to improve its impentrability to livestock. Durable, unsuscepible to pest or disease; long-lived, tolerant of storm, drought or flood

It is the first large-scale harbinger of spring in rural areas (though, in fact, it is slightly later than its close cousin, the cherry plum, and they are often treated as the same plant), flowering well before it develops any leaves. Notoriously, it is also an alert to be wary of the "blackthorn winter" cold snap that frequently follows its flowers. Its fruit promises snug winter nights with a glass of sloe gin

Its wood is hard and stiff but not brittle, perfect for walking sticks. Also for the 'blackthorn staff' - in principle, just a large walking stick, but here we cross over into blackthorn's folklore associations with magic, wizardry, faeries, witchcraft, Druids and the world of spirits. It is also the commonest wood for the shillelagh - ultimately a weapon of war

It suckers readily and, in my experience, perniciously. This year you will see a lush green shoot; next year it is a 70cm sapling, wiry and hard to remove, even with a sharp blade; the year after that you will need a saw or powerful loppers, and what was a hedge is now a thicket 3 metres wide; neglect it at your peril (I did - I have the thickets to prove it!). I have read that it evolved in sub-arctic regions to resist the browsing of woolly mammoths, where only the strong survive; I find this highly plausible

And then there are the thorns! In case you had not guessed, I spent a morning this week on puncture repair. A 1cm blackthorn spike driven into the tyre at 90 degrees. Today I talked to the nice man in the bike shop and bought a spare tube. Tubes filled with gloop (that seals punctures as they are made) are an option, but he recommends against them - they fairly quickly make it impossible to pump up the tyre - "and anyway, if you hit a blackthorn spike you are still going to have a puncture", he volunteered without even knowing what had happened to me. Blackthorn is legendary to more than Druids.

He hesitantly recommended Marathon tyres, as effective but expensive. "That rings a bell", I thought, and guess what... So I have 3mm of reinforced rubber protection, but the blackthorn just laughs. It's possible to get a version with 5mm of protection, but who am I kidding? I remember back in my childhood, helping out with hedgecutting. I also remember helping out with fixing the punctures in the tractor tyres, and removing the blackthorn spikes with pliers. So, I'm now considering witchcraft