Small-Flowered Sweet-Briar

Small-Flowered Sweet-Briar, Rosa micrantha.  Lullingstone Country Park,  14 October 2011.

This is one of the roses whose thorns I showed in my previous post. Although this is not an ideal specimen, it shows some of the features that help to distinguish it from other species; features that I would not have noticed before taking this wildflower course.

There are glandular hairs on the flower stem and even on the fruit, and many glands without hairs on the leaflets.  Their secretions glisten brightly in the light of the camera's flash.  Of the nine species of rose that grow wild in Kent, only the common Dog Rose (Rosa canina) has leaves which are smooth and shiny underneath, and you can feel out very quickly this way whether you are looking at a less common type. 

The sepals are reflexed, folded back along the fruit, and fall early, Here, just one is left.

The photo was taken in bright daylight. The dark background is an illusion caused by the way the photo was taken, with a very small aperture and fast exposure, so that only objects close to the flash show up at all.