Dog Rose (Rosa canina, etc.)

DOG ROSE (Rosa canina)

AKA Wild Rose, Briar Rose, Dogberry, Sweet Briar.

Where: Hedgerows, especially in woodland and wasteground. Throughout the UK. 

What: Petals, Hips.

When: Petals = May – July. Hips = August – November, potentially later. 

Roses have come and are now going, leaving behind Rose Hips of all shapes. These are to be seen all over (especially the large Japanese Rose) and all are edible.

Also included in this section are the less common Field Rose (Rosa arvensis) and Japanese Rose (Rosa rugosa). There are many varieties of Wild Rose throughout the UK, all of which conform to the same basic description, and all of which are suitable for our needs, but the Dog Rose is probably the most commonly encountered.

Often lurking within a hedgerow, mingled with other hedge dwellers, the Rose sits fairly innocuously until spring when it bursts into life with the flowers for which it is justly famous. Growing to a height of 1.5m, but can be larger, it drapes itself over the surrounding plants and trees with a long trail coming from a thick central stem, both hard and covered in sharp hooked thorns.

The leaves of the Dog Rose are oval to a point with a finely serrated edge, bright green upper and pale green underneath, and measure up to 3cm in length.

The flowers begin to show in May and becomes common in June to August  and are made from 5 petals. In both the Dog Rose and the Field Rose, the flowers are white with pink tinged edges and yellow stamens in the middle and up to 2cm wide, the Japanese Rose is a dark pink to purple with a pale purple centre and are slightly larger (up to 3cm). The petals are very delicate, especialy from July onwards, and can be gathered with just a tap. Add them to salads or ice cream for a delicate aroma, or they can also be made into rose petal water, or even Turkish Delight.

From August onwards, following the shedding of the petals, the hips grow from the remains of the flowers, leaving a crown on top of the brigt red bulbous fruit. Up to 4cm long, and oval or rounded in shape, they are very difficult to miss in the Autumnal hedgerow, and can last until Christmas, although by this time they become slightly dog-eared and tired looking. Beware of the small, and very sharp, spur that lurks beneath the leaves by the hip. The hip itself is fairly soft and when split reveals a hollow filled many seeds and covered in tiny hairs. A word of caution; these hairs are a powerful irritant and need to be removed before the hip can be eaten. This can be done on an individual basis, individually, simply scraping out the centre, thus leaving the hip intact to be used as a fruit proper, or more efficiently by boiling and mashing the hips. Rose hips contain more Vitamin C than any other native plant, as well as truck loads of other really good vitamins and minerals, and werer recommended by the Ministry of Health during WWII as a way of combating concerns about scurvey. The main, and most famous, use for the hips is the delicately flavoured Rose Hip Syrup, but they do have other uses – pies for example, or used with other fruits in a variety of different ways. Note that the Japanese Rose hips are much larger than those of the Dog or Field Roses, and consequently produce larger yields of fruit.

Lookalikes: Nothing that is easily confused with the Dog Rose, although certain ornamental flowers can have berries that are superficaly similar to hips. As always, just make certain of the identification.