ROSA AGRESTIS

Family and Genus:- See- ROSACEAE

Common Names:- Small-leaved Sweet-briar.

Homotypic synonyms:- Chabertia agrestis; Rosa rubiginosa subsp. agrestis; Rosa rubiginosa var. agrestis; Rosa sepium subsp. agrestis.

Meaning:- Rosa (L) Rosa, the Latin name for a rose.
                  Agrestis (L) Of fields or the countryside.

General description:- A deciduous prickly shrub with small, glandular, aromatic leaflets and white to very pale pink flowers.

Stems:-
1) Branches, arching, forming an open to dense shrub, usually about 1-3 m high.
2) Prickles, strong, curved and broadened at the base.

Leaves:-
1) Cauline, alternate, petiolate and imparipinnate, usually with 5-7 leaflets.
    a) leaflets, relatively small, narrow-elliptic to obovate, distinctly cuneate at the
        base.
    b) margins, doubly serrate, with gland-tipped secondary teeth.
    c) surface, green, with numerous scented glands beneath; hairiness variable.
    d) scent, aromatic when the leaflets are rubbed.
2) Stipules, attached to the petiole for much of their length, with free tips.

Flowers:-
1) Inflorescence, solitary flowers or small terminal clusters.
2) Bracts, leaf-like, subtending the flower groups.
3) Pedicels, relatively long and normally without stalked glands.
4) Calyx, 5 sepals; outer sepals with lateral divisions; reflexed after flowering and
    usually shed before hip ripening.
5) Corolla, 5 white or very pale pink petals, spreading to expose the stamens.
6) Stamens, numerous;
    a) filaments, free, arising around the carpels.
    b) anthers, 2-celled, opening longitudinally.
7) Ovary, numerous free, superior carpels enclosed within, but not fused to, the urn-
    shaped hypanthium;
    a) styles, free, glabrous or nearly so, emerging through a narrow opening in a
        distinctly convex disc.

Fruit:-
1) Hip, the enlarged fleshy hypanthium enclosing numerous small, hard, one-seeded
    achenes.
2) Colour, red to orange-red when ripe; shape varies from rounded to ovoid.

Distinguishing features:- Cuneate leaflet bases, glandular aromatic foliage, usually glandless pedicels and nearly glabrous styles distinguish typical plants. Rosa micrantha and Rosa rubiginosa require comparison of leaflet bases, pedicel glands, styles and sepal persistence.

Flowering time:- June to July.

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Toxicity:- Prickles can cause puncture wounds. Hairs within the hips can irritate skin and mucous membranes; species-specific ingestion safety is not established here.

Habitat:- Hedges, open scrub, woodland edges and rough grassland, chiefly on calcareous or other base-rich soils.

Distribution:- Native and local in Great Britain, principally in southern England; also recorded in Ireland. Native more widely across Europe to the Caucasus and in northwestern Africa.

Conservation status:- Near Threatened (NT), criterion B2b(i-v), in Great Britain (2025); Nationally Scarce.

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