Identify by feature
Shrub with thorns or prickles: which one is it?
In hedges and woodland edges, a thorny shrub is usually a blackthorn or hawthorn; with prickles on arching stems it is a dog rose or bramble, and in gardens also gooseberry, barberry or firethorn.
23 species with this feature
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Blackthorn Prunus spinosa
Shrub
Thorny shrub with black branches, white blossom in March before the leaves and blue sloes.
Native
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Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna
Broadleaf tree
Small, deeply cut leaf, sharp thorns, white blossom in May and red berries.
Native
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Midland hawthorn Crataegus laevigata
Broadleaf tree
Hawthorn with a shallowly lobed, glossy leaf and haws with two or three stones; flowers a little earlier than common hawthorn.
Native
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Dog rose Rosa canina
Shrub
Wild rose with arching, prickly stems, pink flowers and red rose hips.
Native
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Raspberry Rubus idaeus
Shrub
Upright canes with fine prickles, leaves with white undersides and red raspberries.
Native
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Gooseberry Ribes uva-crispa
Shrub
Low shrub with spines below the leaf bases, small lobed leaves and green or red, often hairy berries.
Native
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Sea buckthorn Hippophae rhamnoides
Shrub
Thorny shrub with narrow, silvery-grey leaves and, in autumn, masses of orange berries packed along the branches.
Native
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Gorse Ulex europaeus
Shrub
Evergreen, impenetrable shrub with green spines instead of leaves, and fragrant yellow flowers.
NativePoisonous
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Japanese barberry Berberis thunbergii
Shrub
Dense, thorny shrub with small leaves in clusters, often red; red berries.
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Barberry Berberis vulgaris
Shrub
Thorny shrub with three-pronged spines, tufts of toothed leaves, hanging clusters of yellow flowers and elongated red berries.
Native
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Firethorn Pyracantha
Shrub
Evergreen, thorny shrub with masses of orange, red or yellow berries in autumn.
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Buckthorn Rhamnus cathartica
Shrub
Shrub with almost opposite side shoots that end in a thorn, finely toothed leaves with curved veins and black berries.
NativePoisonous
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Sweet-briar Rosa rubiginosa
Shrub
Wild rose whose leaves smell of apples when crushed; bright pink flowers and oval, orange-red hips.
Native
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Burnet rose Rosa spinosissima
Shrub
Low, dense rose bristling with straight prickles, with small leaflets, creamy white flowers and glossy black hips.
Native
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Wild pear Pyrus pyraster
Broadleaf tree
Thorny wild pear with glossy, long-stalked leaves and small, hard pears.
Native
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Crab apple Malus sylvestris
Broadleaf tree
Small, often thorny apple tree with hairless leaves and small, sour apples 2–3 cm across.
Native
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Flowering quince Chaenomeles
Shrub
Thorny shrub that flowers in March–April on bare twigs in red, orange, pink or white, followed by hard, fragrant little quinces.
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Duke of Argyll’s teaplant Lycium barbarum
Shrub
Shrub with long, arching, often thorny twigs, narrow greyish-green leaves, purple flowers and elongated orange-red berries.
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Honey locust Gleditsia triacanthos
Broadleaf tree
Fine, airy foliage with many small leaflets, sometimes twice pinnate; wild forms have large branched thorns.
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False acacia Robinia pseudoacacia
Broadleaf tree
Pinnate leaf with oval, untoothed leaflets and two spines at the base of each leaf; hanging clusters of white flowers.
Invasive non-native: do not plantPoisonous
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Japanese rose Rosa rugosa
Shrub
Dense, very prickly rose with wrinkled, glossy leaves, large pink or white flowers and fat, red hips.
Invasive non-native: do not plant
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Japanese wineberry Rubus phoenicolasius
Shrub
Bramble-like shrub with arching stems covered in red glandular hairs, trifoliate leaves that are white-felted underneath, and glossy orange-red berries.
Tip: A thorn is a modified shoot, fixed firmly in the wood; a prickle grows on the bark and snaps off easily. Blackthorn flowers on bare, black twigs in March, hawthorn only in May with the leaves.
Continue in the identification key
Torn between two?
- Blackthorn or hawthorn
- Hawthorn or Midland hawthorn
- Sweet-briar or dog rose
- Dog rose or Japanese rose
- Raspberry or bramble
- Japanese barberry or barberry
- Burnet rose or Japanese rose
- Blackthorn or buckthorn
- Hawthorn or firethorn
- Midland hawthorn or firethorn
- Bramble or dog rose
- Raspberry or dog rose
- Burnet rose or dog rose
- Bramble or Japanese wineberry
- Raspberry or Japanese wineberry
- Japanese barberry or gooseberry
- Sea buckthorn or gorse
- Flowering quince or firethorn
- Burnet rose or sweet-briar
- Crab apple or wild pear
- False acacia or honey locust