Rosa spinosissima L.
Incl. R. pimpinellifolia L. p.p.
Eng.: Burnet rose. Spa.: Rosal silvestre, rosal espinosísimo. Fre.: Rosier, eglantier. Ara.: Werd er zerub.
Subshrub or shrub, deciduous, with ± erect stems, up to 0.5(1) m in height. Glabrous, reddish, with prickles and numerous bristles (up to 10 per cm of the stem), of different sizes and shapes (generally straight and circular in cross section, but there are also curved and somewhat flattened prickles mixed in). Leaves with 5-11 leaflets (6-15 × 4.12 mm), from elliptic to oval-elliptic or orbicular, with ± rounded base or somewhat cuneate, finely serrated margin, slightly coriaceous, glabrous and without glands on the upper side, glandular or not on the underside. Petiole and rachis glabrous, but with glands and small prickles and bristles. Stipules 5-10 mm wide, fused lengthwise to the petiole. Flowers borne solitary, terminal on short lateral branchlets, without bracts (or with very small bracts); pedicels (10-30 mm) with numerous glands or without any. Sepals (8-14 × 2-4 mm), entire and very rarely with a small lateral lobe, with numerous glands along the margin and on the dorsal side or without any, upright or curved backwards, persistent. Corolla white, but somewhat yellowish at the base of the petals, 30-40 mm in diameter; petals 5, 15-20 mm wide, slightly notched at the apex. Styles free (not fused), pubescent, in the centre of the flower, protruding from the disc of the receptacle. Stamens very numerous, yellow. Fruit (rosehip) a group of numerous achenes enclosed in a receptacle or urceolus, ± spherical, with or without glands, first green, then red and, after full maturity, black, on which the persistent calyx is borne.
Flowering:
April to August.
Fruiting:
August to November.
Habitat:
Forests, thickets and rocky outcrops, preferring ± humid soils, on very diverse terrain, but it seems better adapted to alkaline substrates. With a very wide altitudinal range, from sea level to about 2,200 m in altitude, from thermomediterranean to supramediterranean belts.
Distribution:
Much of Eurasia. In North Africa it grows only in the Mediterranean region of Algeria, cited in Mount Babor (but has not been seen here again) and the mountains of Faraoun and Chelia (Aures).
Observations:
Species easy to identify for its high density of prickles and spherical and blackish fruits; however, there might be doubtful specimens because they often hybridise. Numerous infraspecific taxa of this species have been described within its wide distribution range.
Conservation status:
Common and widespread species. Currently, they have not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.