Rosa sempervirens L.
Eng.: Evergreen rose. Spa.: Rosal perenne, mosqueta, escaramujo. Fre.: Rosier toujours vert, églantier sempervirent. Ara.: ward, werd er zerub, nesri, nizrine, uard meski, mekhleb el guettus. Tam.: tikhfert, chedir, chgulmassi.
Shrub, evergreen (only evergreen species of the genus in North Africa), hermaphrodite, with stems ± erect but generally climbing or extended-prostrate, up to 6 m in height, reaching larger sizes in dense forests with humid soils or along walls or rocky outcrops; stems glabrous, green or reddish, with short prickles, hooked and curved, widely dispersed, all homogeneous. Leaves imparipinnate, with (3)5 leaflets [(2.5)3-8 × 1.5-3.5 cm], from ovate to ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, with ± rounded base, finely serrated margin, slightly coriaceous, glabrous without glands on both sides. Petiole and rachis glabrous, with some glands and some small prickles. Stipules narrow, fused lengthwise to the petiole. Inflorescences corymbiform, sometimes flowers solitary, with 1-2 ovate-lanceolate bracts, with widely spaced glands along the margin and sometimes also on the underside; pedicels very long (2-5 cm) with some glands. Sepals (9-13 × 4-6 mm), usually entire, with glands along the margin and dorsal side, folded backwards, caducous. Corolla 2.5-5 cm in diameter; petals 5, (10)15-30 mm wide, notched at the apex, white. Styles fused into a pubescent column 4-6 mm. Stamens numerous, yellow. Fruit a group of numerous achenes enclosed in a receptacle or urceolus, at first ovoid, green and slightly glandular and subglobose (0.5-1.5 cm diameter), reddish and glabrous when mature.
Flowering:
April to July.
Fruiting:
August to November.
Habitat:
Forests, thickets and rocky outcrops, preferably in ± humid soils, on diverse terrain, from sea level to about 2,000 m. In semiarid to humid bioclimate, on mainly thermomediterranean floor.
Distribution:
Western Europe and Mediterranean region. In North Africa it is a common species in the more humid parts of the Mediterranean region, from Morocco to N of Tunisia; absent in the Saharan Atlas, but it is present in the Aures Massif and the Tunisian Dorsal. Its southern boundary appears to lie in the Sirwa Massif (between the High Atlas and the Anti-Atlas).
Conservation status:
Uncommon species but with a wide distribution area. 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 rare and threatened species of wild flora (Order of the Minister of Agriculture and Hydraulic Resources of July 19, 2006).