Common name:
Sweet briar
Family:
Scientific name:
Rosa rubiginosa
Main flower color:
Range:
England and Wales; less common in Scotland and Ireland
Height:
Up to 150 cm
Habitat:
Hedgerows, rough grassland
Flowers:
Pale pink, up to 3 cm across, solitary or in groups of up to three. Sepals are recurved, and persist through the flowering stalks. Sepals have a few narrow, pinnate lobes near the base. Styles are hairy, and unfused. Stamens have yellow filaments and orange-brown anthers
Fruit:
Large red hips, up to 2 cm wide, with persistent sepals
Leaves:
Pinnately divided into five or seven leaflets, lined by small, reddish teeth. Leaves are dark green and hairless above, sparsely hairy and lighter green below. Petioles are lined with stalked, sweet-smelling red glands, as are the sepals and flower stalks. Stems are armed with large, recurved, red thorns
Season:
June to July
Rarity:
★★★★★
