Glaucous Dog Rose

• Name also

  Glaucous dog-rose, Whitish-stemmed briar

• Scientific synonym

  Rosa dumalis

• Growing form and height

  Shrub. 2–4 m (6–13 ft.).

• Flower

  Regular, large, 4–5 cm (1.5–2 in.) across. Sepals 5, lobed. Petals 5, free, pink or white, notched. Stamens numerous. Carpels free, many. Flowers solitary or in 2–4-flowered racemes.

• Leaves

  Alternate. Stipulate, stalked, odd-pinnate. Leaflets five to seven, 2–3.5 cm (0.8–1.4 in.) long, elliptic to obovate, hairless, toothed, teeth tipped.

• Buds

  Cone-shaped, green–reddish.

• Fruit

  Oval, hairless, red hip containing several achenes.

• Habitat

  Dryish, open woodland, rich forest margin thickets, pastures, roadsides. Rarely an ornamental.

• Flowering time

  June–July.

Roses and briars (Rosa spp.) are large-flowered, prickly shrubs. Their leaves are imparipinnate. The actual fruits are achenes which, however, are not visible, but enclosed by the enlarged receptacle, the whole being called a hip. The genus comprises between 100 and 250 species, depending on the defining criteria. They are distributed over the temperate regions of the Northern hemisphere. Roses have been cultivated in China and the eastern Mediterranean at least for 4,000–5,000 years.

The stems of glaucous dog rose are stout and arching, and covered with rigid, hooked prickles. This species is very much alike dog rose (R. canina), a rare southern species occurring only in the Åland Islands. Dog rose is sometimes grown as an ornamental. Both glaucous dog rose and dog rose are very variable species and, hence difficult to identify.

Hairy Dog Rose

Rosa caesia

Rosa dumalis ssp. dumalis and Rosa dumalis ssp. coriifolia were earlier regarded as subspecies of glaucous dog rose. Today they are classified as own species Rosa dumalis and Rosa caesia. The main difference between these species is seen in leaflets; Glaucous dog rose’s leaflets are glaucous, of course. Hairy dog rose’s leaflets are (only) a bit hairy, especially on underside.

→ Distribution map

Dog Rose

Rosa canina

NOT TRANSLATED YET. Orjanruusuja muistuttavaa koiranruusua meillä voi tavata luonnonvaraisena vain Ahvenanmaalla. Tuntomerkkejä: käyrät, vahvat piikit; kukat vaaleanpunaisia tai valkoisia; kukinnan jälkeen taapäin kääntyvät liuskaiset verholehdet, jotka putoavat ennen kiulukoiden kypsymistä; kiulukat pitkänomaisia, myöhään (lokakuussa) kypsyviä.

→ Distribution map

Sweet Briar (Sweetbriar Rose, Sweet Brier)

Rosa rubiginosa

Omenaruusu on Suomessa melko harvinainen, yleensä koristekasvi, jota saattaa tavata myös puutarhojen ulkopuolelta. Nimi tulee lajin tuoksusta, joka muistuttaa omenaa. Verholehdet ovat nystykarvaisia, kiulukat kaljuja. Piikkejä on monenlaisia, osa ohuita suoria, osa vankkoja, käyriä.

→ Distribution map (Kasviatlas, University of Helsinki)