Thorns

Thorns of the Short-Styled Field-Rose, Rosa stylosa.  Lullingstone Country Park, 14 October 2011.

The second day of the wildflower course I am attending was a ramble round the park. We were looking for roses, and here are the thorns on two of those we saw.

Roses that form sturdy, upright bushes tend to have deltate thorns like those of the Short-Styled Field-Rose. They do not need to grip, but they still protect the plant very well. On the other hand, climbing roses tend to have thorns which are more like hooks, like the arcuate thorns on the Small-Flowered Sweet-Briar.  "Arcuate" means "curved like a bow," but actually, these look to me more like fish-hooks.

There are several different species of wild rose in Kent, I learned, and other types of prickle, and now that I know what to look for, I expect I will show them here in due course.

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