How do you recognise Dog rose (Rosa canina)?

Leaf

Alain Bigou, Tela Botanica · CC BY-SA 2.0

Dog rose

Rosa canina L.

Also known as: Briar rose, Brier

Family: Rosaceae

1 to 3 m tall, arching thorny stems

Hedges, waste ground, woodland edges

Flowering: May – June

Full sun

Part shade

Very hardy, to -25°C

❓ How do you recognise this plant?

The orange-red rose hips persist all winter, long after the leaves have fallen. The field rose has styles fused into a protruding column in the centre of the flower and a climbing or trailing habit, whereas the dog rose has free, hairy styles and an upright, bushy habit.

🍃 Leaves

Compound, 5 to 7 toothed leaflets

🌸 Flowers

Pale pink to white, five petals, fragrant

🍎 Fruits

Red to orange false fruits, ovoid to almost round depending on the form, called rose hips, generally 1 to 2 cm; they contain many achenes covered in irritant hairs.

🪵 Bark

Arching stems with hooked prickles broad at the base

🗺️ Distribution

Europe, North Africa, western Asia; very common in hedges throughout France.

🐝 Value for pollinators

Simple pink flowers very rich in pollen, visited by many wild bees.

✂️ Horticultural uses

Planted in informal country hedges, also used as a rootstock for cultivated roses.

⚠️ Possible toxicity

The pulp, once cleared of seeds and hairs, can be used as food, but the internal hairs are very irritant and must not be eaten.

⚠️ Look-alike species

Dog rose

Rosa canina

Field rose

Rosa arvensis

The field rose has styles fused into a protruding column in the centre of the flower and a climbing or trailing habit, whereas the dog rose has free, hairy styles and an upright, bushy habit.

Dog rose

Rosa canina

Sweet briar

Rosa rubiginosa

The two look very similar and hybridise readily in the wild. The best clue remains the smell: when crushed, the sweet briar leaf gives off a distinct apple scent, absent in the dog rose, whose leaves are odourless.

🌿 Other Rosaceae to discover

ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.

🌱 This database is constantly evolving — species and information are added and corrected regularly. Spotted a mistake? Report it below.