Rosa sicula Tratt.
R. thuretii (Burnat & Gremli) Burnat & Gremli
Eng.: Wild rose. Spa.: Rosal silvestre, escaramujo. Fre.: Rosier de Sicile, eglantier nain. Ara.: Ward, werd er zerub, uard el djebel. Tam.: Tikhfert, taafart buzeru.
Subshrub or shrub, deciduous, up to 0.8(1) m in height. Stems erect or ascending, glabrous, green or reddish, with short, straight or hooked prickles, widely scattered. Leaves smelling of apples, with 5-7 leaflets [0.7-1.5 × 0.5-1(1.5) cm], orbicular or obovate, with ± rounded base and twice serrated margin, glabrous or slightly pubescent and generally glandular on the upper side, pubescent and glandular on the underside, with very dark chestnut glands. Petiole and rachis pubescent or glabrous, with some glands and some small bristles, very slender and acicular. Stipules ± twice longer than wide. Flowers often solitary, without bracts or with 1 bract shorter than the axillary leaf. Pedicels [(0.2)0.3-0.7(1) cm] glabrous or pubescent, with some glands. External sepals with short, glandular lobes on the dorsal side, folded backwards, late caducous. Corolla 1.5-2.5 cm in diameter; petals 5, 0.5-1 × 0.7-1.5 cm, notched at the apex, pink. Styles free, pubescent. Urnule, subglobose or pyriform, smooth or glandular, red.
Flowering:
June to August.
Fruiting:
October to December.
Habitat:
Forest, thickets and rocky outcrops, preferably on ± humid soils, on very diverse terrain, in medium and high altitude (1,200-3,000 m). In subhumid to humid bioclimate, on upper thermomediterranean to oromediterranean floors.
Distribution:
Mediterranean region. In North Africa it is distributed in cooler and more humid areas of the Rif, Middle Atlas, High Atlas, western Anti-Atlas (Morocco), central-eastern Tellian Atlas (Algeria) and Tunisian Dorsal.
Conservation status:
Common and widespread species. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In Tunisia all species of the genus Rosa are included in its List of native species that are rare and threatened with extinction (Order of the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources 19-July-2006).