Rosa pouzinii Tratt.
R. canina subsp. pouzinii (Tratt.) Batt.
Eng.: Mediterranean rose. Spa.: Rosal silvestre, escaramujo. Fre.: Rosier de Pouzin, églantier de Pouzin. Ara.: Werd er zerub, uerd ez zerub, nab el kelb, allaïk el kelb; the fruit: bu sufa. Tam.: Achdirt, chella busrururt, tafrha, taafart, tihfort, taaferd, azenzu; the fruit: tigurma.
Shrub, deciduous, hermaphrodite, with numerous stems, ± erect or arched, slightly or not climbing, up to 2(4) m in height or taller when growing on humid soil in dense forest or along walls or rocky outcrops; glabrous. Compared to R. canina and other related species, R. pouzinii has much slender stems, with prickles very wide at the base, all similar in shape. Branchlets and young leaves reddish. Leaves with 5-7(9) leaflets, 13-35 × 8-26 mm, from oval-orbicular to oval-lanceolate, ± acute, with rounded base; with twice serrated margin, not coriaceous, hairless on both sides, with some glands on the underside (at least around the central vein). Petiole and rachis glabrous, with stalked glands and small prickles. Stipules glabrous, usually without any glands, fused lengthwise to the petiole. Inflorescence corymbiform, solitary flowers (sometimes in pairs or in small groups of 3), with 1-2 bracts, lanceolate-oval, promptly caducous; pedicels 12-20 mm, glabrous but with some stipitate glands. Sepals 12-20 mm long, with 6-12 lobes, with hairy upper side and glandular dorsal side, promptly folded backwards and caducous. Corolla pinkish white, 20-40 mm in diameter; petals 5, 10-15 mm wide, slightly notched at the apex. Styles free, hairless or with very few hairs. Stamens numerous, yellow. Fruit (rosehip) a group of numerous achenes enclosed in a receptacle or urceolus, first ovoid, green and slightly glandular, and at maturity from urceolate to ellipsoid (7-11 mm diameter), completely glabrous, or with some glands at the base, deep red.
Flowering:
March to July
Fruiting:
July to November.
Habitat:
Forests, thickets and rocky outcrops, preferably in ± humid soils, on diverse terrain, from sea level to about 2,000 m in altitude. From humid to dry bioclimate, sometimes in semiarid bioclimate but then along waterways.
Distribution:
Mediterranean region. Common in North Africa, where it is well distributed, reaching towards the S to the Anti-Atlas (Morocco) and the Saharan Atlas (at least in Algeria). In Tunisia it is rarer, appearing only in the mountains of the 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 it is 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).