Flowers
The pink flowers each have of five petals, with a yellow centre and are up to 6cm across, quite large and really a stunning wildflower with a stunningly beautiful scent . There are lots of stamens with bright yellow anthers that get darker as they get older. The petals of the dog rose are used in Pot Pourris. The flowers can vary from a very pale pink through to a deep pink as the specimen on this page. The flowers are usually in clusters of between one to five. It belong to the Rosaceae family.

Fruit or Hips - Dragon's Eyes - Vitamin C - Medicinal Uses
The flowers mature into the red-orange fruit or hips in the autumn months. The hips are sometimes called Dragons Eyes and aren't edible. They have a high Vitamin C content

World War 11 - Government Used Rose Hips
Rose hips have twenty more times vitamin C than oranges and during the second World War when fresh fruit was scarce the government asked that rose hips be picked to make rose hip syrup.

Research is now being done into rose hips for the treatment of osteo and rheumatoid arthritis.and have been used in making syrups, jams, jellies as well as being used for medicinal purposes in the treatment of kidney and bladder disorders.

Food Source for Birds and attracts the Insects
The fruit is a fantastic source of food for the birds, and the plant attracts insects from hoverflies, to dragonflies, to butterflies and moths and of course the all important ladybirds.

Common Names
Dog Roses are also commonly called briar roses, hedge roses, a burnet rose and bramble rose or dike rose

Leaves The leaves are have five to seven leaflets arranged in pairs and are a dark shiny green oval shaped and toothed. The underside of the leaf is lighter. The leaves have single or double-toothed saw-edges, and are mostly hairless on both sides. Pleasant Scent If the leaves become bruised, they actually have a rather pleasant smell. Food Source for Insects The leaves provide a great food source for caterpillars, butterflies and moths.

AStringents for The Skin
Wild rose petals are still being used in making rose water and skin lotions and astringents.

The Romans Called the Rose the Dog Rose
The Greeks believed that the roots of this wild rose could cure the effects of the bite of a mad dog. This led the Romans to name the flower Rosa canina - literally "Dog Rose".

Henry - Tudor Rose - Rose of England
The dog rose or wild rose was used as the symbol of the Tudor monarchs and is has become the flower symbol of England.