Dog rose Rosa canina  (and others)                                                  
 
Family:        Rosaceae - Rose family
Height:        to 4m
Flowering:  May, June
Fruit:            Autumn 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Field rose Rosa arvensis
 
Field, or musk rose differs in having white flowers and a weaker sprawling habit up to 2m tall. Experts differ on its scent, most field naturalists think it unscented, while others describe a powerful and indivdual scent.
 
Field rose is found growing in scrub, hedges and woodland edges throughout the UK, though rarely in Scotland.
 
Dog rose is a beautiful addition to a hedge; a rambling shrub growing up to 3-4 metres tall, with large white to  pink lightly scented flowers, and clusters of bright scarlet fruit called rose hips in the autumn.  It has hooked thorns on stems, which are part of its success as a climber. 
 
Dog rose is the most common of our wild roses, although most abundant  in southern England. It is a good coloniser of disturbed sites, like its relative bramble.
 
History and use
 
Rosa canina was first recorded botanically by William Turner in 1538.1. It is well known to country people and Vickery2. records over 60 local names for the plant and its fruit, including brimmle, buckle-brier, dog brier, horse-bramble, pig's nose, brandy bottles and pixy-pears.  The hairs inside the hips were used by horrible school children as itching-powder, sometimes called buckie-lice or tickling-tommy.
 
The flesh of rose hips is sweet and flavoursome, and can be used to make jams, jellies and cordial. In the second world war the vitamin C-rich hips  were collected by children and processed into rose hip syrup as a food supplement.2.
 
 
Associated species
 
The blooms in May and June attract pollinating insects and moths such as the barred yellow Cidaria fulvata. A large number of small beetles, aphids, sawflies and moths feed on dog rose, including the small eggar moth Eriogaster lanestris and the beautiful red-green carpet moth Chloroclysta siterata.3. One very characteristic insect is the tiny bedeguar gall wasp Diplolepis rosae.  The gall it produces is commonly known as robin’s pincushion or moss gall.
 
The brilliant red hips attract blackbirds and other berry-eating birds, as well as small mammals such as woodmice that eat the fruits that have fallen to the ground.
 
Other native wild rose species
 
The genus Rosa is botanically complicated and species interbreed and are hard to distinguish, Pearman1. notes twelve British species.  These two are common:
 
 
Sweet briar Rosa rubiginosa
 
Sweet briar, or eglantine is similar to dog rose but has smaller flowers and is sweet scented - the underside of its leaves have tiny glands that release an apple-scented fragrance when gently rubbed. Less vigorous than dog rose but can grow up to 3m tall.
Cultivated roses
 
There are hundreds of species of Rosa and probably thousands of cultivars, derived from many original ancestral species.  Most garden roses came from Asia and especially China, and are divided horticulturally into 11 groups.  They have been selected for colour, size and scent, and almost all are double flowers, with tight whorls of many petals.   These generally are of no value for pollinators as many lack nectaries and/or are too tightly packed for insects to enter.
 
 
References
 
1.   Pearman, D. 2017. The Discovery of the Native Flora of Britain and Ireland.  BSBI, Bristol p 343
 
2.   Vickery, R. 2019. Vickery’s Folk Flora, An A to Z of the Folklore and Uses of British and Irish Plants. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. London pp 213-218
 
3.   Biological Records Centre database
 
 
 
Page drafted by Caroline Ware, compiled by Steve Head
Dog rose Rosa canina  (and others)
 
Family:        Rosaceae - Rose family
Height:        to 4m
Flowering:  May, June
Fruit:           Autumn 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Dog rose is a beautiful addition to a hedge; a rambling native shrub growing up to 3-4 metres tall, with large white to  pink lightly scented flowers, and clusters of bright scarlet fruit called rose hips in the autumn.  It has hooked thorns on stems, which are part of its success as a climber. 
 
Dog rose is the most common of our wild roses, although most abundant  in southern England. It is a good coloniser of disturbed sites, like its relative bramble.
 
History and use
 
Rosa canina was first recorded botanically by William Turner in 1538.1. It is well known to country people and Vickery2. records over 60 local names for the plant and its fruit, including brimmle, buckle-brier, dog brier, horse-bramble, pig's nose, brandy bottles and pixy-pears.  The hairs inside the hips were used by horrible school children as itching-powder, sometimes called buckie-lice or tickling-tommy.
 
The flesh of rose hips is sweet and flavoursome, and can be used to make jams, jellies and cordial. In the second world war the vitamin C-rich hips  were collected by children and processed into rose hip syrup as a food supplement.2.
 
Associated species
 
The blooms in May and June attract pollinating insects and moths such as the barred yellow Cidaria fulvata. A large number of small beetles, aphids, sawflies and moths feed on dog rose, including the small eggar moth Eriogaster lanestris and the beautiful red-green carpet moth Chloroclysta siterata.3. One very characteristic insect is the tiny bedeguar gall wasp Diplolepis rosae.  The gall it produces is commonly known as robin’s pincushion or moss gall.
 
The brilliant red hips attract blackbirds and other berry-eating birds, as well as small mammals such as woodmice that eat the fruits that have fallen to the ground.
 
Other native wild rose species
 
The genus Rosa is botanically complicated and species interbreed and are hard to distinguish, Pearman1. notes twelve British species.  These two are common:
 
Sweet briar Rosa rubiginosa
Sweet briar, or eglantine is similar to dog rose but has smaller flowers and is sweet scented - the underside of its leaves have tiny glands that release an apple-scented fragrance when gently rubbed. Less vigorous than dog rose but can grow up to 3m tall.
Field rose Rosa arvensis
 
Field, or musk rose differs in having white flowers and a weaker sprawling habit up to 2m tall. Experts differ on its scent, most field naturalists think it unscented, while others describe a powerful and indivdual scent.
 
Field rose is found growing in scrub, hedges and woodland edges throughout the UK, though rarely in Scotland.
 
Cultivated roses
 
There are hundreds of species of Rosa and probably thousands of cultivars, derived from many original ancestral species.  Most garden roses came from Asia and especially China, and are divided horticulturally into 11 groups.  They have been selected for colour, size and scent, and almost all are double flowers, with tight whorls of many petals.   These generally are of no value for pollinators as many lack nectaries and/or are too tightly packed for insects to enter.
 
 
References
 
1.   Pearman, D. 2017 The Discovery of the Native Flora of Britain and Ireland. BSBI, Bristol p 343
 
2.   Vickery, R. 2019. Vickery’s Folk Flora, An A to Z of the Folklore and Uses of British and Irish Plants. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. London pp 213-218
 
3.   Biological Records Centre database
 
 
 
Page drafted by Caroline Ware, compiled by Steve Head
           Garden Wildplants
        Garden Wildplants