This climbing plant can be found covering hedgerows across the landscape. When in flower it covers hedges with soft pink flowers. It uses curved hook shaped spines (thorns) to grab onto other scrubs. The dog roses the other shrubs for support and can grow up to 3 metres tall.
The leaves have toothed edges with leaflets arranged in 2 - 3 pairs of leaves
arranged opposite each other and one at the end. You might also see red threads of fibrous material in balls attached to the twigs. These often called Robins’ cushions are actually galls. The gall wasp lays its eggs in the leaf buds and the gall is formed as a protection.
The flowers are usually quite large and pink or occasionally white. They are sweet smelling with 5 petals and numerous stamens in the centre. Often visited by insects yo collect nectar and can be seen from May to August.
The flowers are followed by bright red fruits (hips) in the autumn. The hips are usually in clusters. Each hip contains many hairy seeds.
High in vitamin C foragers collect them to make syrups and oils,
however, they are usually eaten by Blackbirds, Redwings and Waxwings.
Comments