Dog Rose

The Dog Rose, has large pink or white five-petalled flowers with a sweet scent. It has blueish-green leaves, curved thorns on arched stems which help it grip as it weaves between other shrubs which it uses as support.

The Dog Rose is a thorny climbing shrub, found in hedgerows, woodland edges, scrubland, sand dunes and grasslands. It flowers from late May through to July which are an important nectar source for insects. In autumn, it produces bright red rosehips that ripen around September and October. Each hip contains many seeds which are a good source of food for birds such as blackbirds, redwings and waxwings. They are often eaten by small mammals, such as bank voles too.

Rose hips are high in vitamin C and can be collected to make rosehip syrups and jellies. Rosehip syrup made from the Dog Rose has four times the Vitamin C of blackcurrant juice and twenty times as much as orange juice.

The hairs inside the hips are an irritant and can be extracted to make itching powder.

Common and widespread throughout Britain.