HOSE TKIBE 247 



hip ; and in another form of the phmt, the leaves are hairy on both sides. 

 The flowers of this Briar are pink, expanding dnring June and July in woods 

 and hedges, chiefly in the southern counties of England. By some regarded 

 as a A'ariety of B. ruhiginosa. 



13. Small-flowered Sweet-Briar {R. micrdntha). — Prickles uniform, 

 curved ; leaflets twice serrated, hairy, glandular beneath ; calyx segments 

 long and pinnated, not remaining on the small egg-shaped fruit. Plant 

 perennial. This plant is found on open bushy heaths, and in hedges and 

 copses chiefly in the south of England, as well as in the south of Ireland. 

 Though a local plant, it is abundant in some parts of Sussex and Surrey, 

 bearing its small pink flowers in June and July. It is considered by some 

 authors as a sub-species of E. ruhiginosa. 



14. Small-leaved Sweet-Briar {R. sepium). — Prickles numerous; 

 leaflets small, doubly serrated, hairy, acute at each end, glandulose beneath ; 

 calyx pinnate. Plant perennial. This is a rare species, flowering in June 

 and July. Its recorded habitats are near Bridport, in Warwickshire, and 

 Heyford, Oxfordshire. It is probably only a variety of R. ruhiginosa. 



* -x- * * * 



Shoots mostly vnthout bristles ; leaves without glands. 



15. Common Dog-rose {R. canina). — Prickles uniform, hooked ; leaves 

 smooth, or slightly hairy ; calyx segments pinnate, and not remaining at- 

 tached to the fruit ; styles distinct. A number of varieties of this shrub are 

 found ; in one, the leaflets are keeled, and the serratures compound ; in 

 others, they are flat, and are more or less hairy. These have by various 

 writers been described as distinct species. This is, above all others, the 

 wilding Rose of England, for it is common almost everywhere, its deep pink 

 or delicate blush-coloured young Roses and buds gleaming among the bright 

 sprays of leaflets, and shedding on green lane and sunny bank, or shady 

 wood, their sweet and rose-like odour. As the flowers expand fully, they 

 become whiter. Few who have passed their early days in the country but 

 can remember spots and occupations such as Clare describes, when alluding 

 to a country maiden :— 



' She eager scrambled the dog-rose to get, 

 And woodbine flowers at every bush she mot ; 

 Tlie cowslip blossom, with its ruddy streak, 

 "Would tempt her furlongs from the path to seek ; 

 And gay long purple, with its tufty spike, 

 She'd wade o'er shoes to reach it in the dyke ; 

 And oft was scratching through the briary woods 

 For tempting Cuckoo-flowers and Violet-buds." 



Some Avriters think that the reason why this pretty wilding Rose was called 

 by o\vc fathers Dog-rose, is that all the wild Roses or Briars were termed by 

 the Greeks Cijnorhodon, because the root was supposed to cure the bite of a 

 mad dog. The Latins, who had the same notion respecting this root, called 

 the Wild Rose Canina, and hence our commonest Rose received this name. 

 Another of its names, the Canker Rose, was, however, doubtless expressive 

 of contempt, and was most likely given to this flower because of its in- 

 feriority in size and odour to the garden Rose. In this contempt the poets 



