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Scientific Name
Synonyms
Family
Common Names
Origin
Cultivation
Naturalised Distribution
Habitat
Habit
Distinguishing Features
Stems and Leaves
Flowers and Fruit
Reproduction and Dispersal
Environmental Impact
Legislation
Management
Similar Species
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Click on images to enlarge

habit (Photo: Trevor James)

habit (Photo: Trevor James)

thorny older stems (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

close-up of thorns on smooth older stems (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

younger stem and once-compound leaves with five or seven leaflets (Photo: Trevor James)

close-up of young leaves showing sticky hairs on the undersides of the leaflets (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

pink flowers (Photo: Greg Jordan)

immature fruit (Photo: Trevor James)

close-up of immature fruit with a few small spines near their bases and numerous bristly spines on their stalks (Photo: Trevor James)

bright red mature fruit (Photo: Trevor James)

Rosa rubiginosa

Scientific Name

Rosa rubiginosa L.

Synonyms

Rosa arabica Crep.
Rosa eglanteria L.

Family

Rosaceae

Common Names

briar rose, eglantine, mosqueta rose, sweet briar, sweet briar rose, sweet brier, sweet brier rose, wild rose

Origin

Originated in Europe and western Asia (i.e. Eurasia).

Cultivation

Sweet briar (Rosa rubiginosa) is cultivated as a garden ornamental, particularly as a hedging plant in the temperate regions of Australia.

Naturalised Distribution

Widely naturalised in southern and eastern Australia (i.e. in the sub-coastal and inland districts of southern Queensland, in many parts of New South Wales and South Australia, in the ACT, in Victoria and Tasmania, and in the coastal districts of south-western Western Australia.

Habitat

This species is a weed in grasslands, bushland, open woodlands, roadsides, waste areas, gullies, riparian vegetation, hedgerows and pastures in temperate and cooler sub-tropical regions.

Habit

An upright (i.e. erect), or sometimes climbing (i.e. scandent), prickly shrub forming dense thickets. It usually grows 1.5-2 m tall, but sometimes reaches up to 3 m in height.

Distinguishing Features

Stems and Leaves

The upright (i.e. erect) or arching stems are smooth and green or reddish in colour when young, but become rough and woody as they mature. They are armed with scattered, backward-curving (i.e. recurved), prickles of various sizes (10-15 mm long).

The alternately arranged leaves are compound (i.e. pinnate) with 5-7 (rarely nine) leaflets and a prickly stalk (i.e. petiole). The leaflets (10-40 mm long and 5-28 mm wide) are egg-shaped in outline (i.e. ovate) or broadly oval (i.e. elliptic) in shape and have sharply toothed (i.e. serrated) margins. There are also a pair of leafy bracts (i.e. stipules) present at the base of the leaf stalks (i.e. petioles) and the leaves have a few sticky (i.e. glandular) hairs on their undersides and along their margins.

Flowers and Fruit

The rather large flowers (20-50 mm across) are borne in loose clusters at the tips of the branches. They have five pink, pinkish-white or white petals (8-25 mm long), numerous stamens, and five narrow sepals that are often covered in sticky (i.e. glandular) hairs. These flowers are borne on stalks (i.e. peduncles) that are covered in sticky (i.e. glandular) hairs. Flowering occurs mostly during spring and early summer.

The fruit is an oval (i.e. ellipsoid) or egg-shaped (i.e. ovoid) flehy capsule (called a 'hip') that turns orange or red in colour as it matures. These capsules (15-20 mm long) usually have a few bristles or small spines near their base and are topped with the remains of the sepals. They contain numerous yellow seeds that are irregularly shaped (4-7 mm long).

Reproduction and Dispersal

This plant reproduces mostly by seed, but may also produce new shoots from its long-lived (i.e. perennial) rootstock.

Seeds are most commonly dispersed by birds and other animals (e.g. foxes) that eat the fruit. They may also be spread in water and dumped garden waste.

Environmental Impact

Sweet briar (Rosa rubiginosa) invades lowland grassland and grassy woodland, dry sclerophyll forest, damp sclerophyll forest, riparian vegetation, and alpine and sub-alpine vegetation in the temperate regions of Australia. It is regarded as a significant environmental weed in South Australia and the ACT, and as an environmental weed in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania. It is actively managed by community groups in the ACT and South Australia and was recently listed as a priority environmental weed in four Natural Resource Management regions.

Legislation

This species is declared under legislation in the following states and territories:

Management

For information on the management of this species see the following resources:

Similar Species

Sweet briar (Rosa rubiginosa) may be confused with dog rose (Rosa canina) and Macartney rose (Rosa bracteata). These species can be distinguished by the following differences: