Prunelles (sloes) grow on blackthorn bushes, (or épines noires). In the Vendée they make a popular apéritif, trouspinette, from the young leaves.
In the Alps and Jura, they make a eau-de-vie de prunelle from the sloes themselves; some also use them to make jam as well as gin à la prunelle—sloe gin.
Image by Andrew Hill