THE WILD ROSES OF BRITAIN 135 



red flowers are followed by rather conspicuous reddish 

 fruits. It is not recorded as having been found often in 

 the British Isles, but has been more frequently met 

 with on the Continent. 



Rosa rubiginosa, the Eglantine or Sweet Brier, is the 

 most popular of British roses, for its fragrant foliage 

 adds a delightful perfume to the garden, especially after 

 rain. A matxire bush may be six or eight feet high, but 

 it is frequently met with between two and three feet in 

 height. The branches are closely set with strong, hooked 

 prickles ; and the leaves, which are composed of from 

 five to seven leaflets, are covered with tiny oil glands 

 on the under surface, from which the fragrance ema- 

 nates. The blush-tinted flowers are one and a half to 

 two inches across and are borne freely during June. 

 They are followed by orange and red fruits which ripen 

 in August. This rose is to be met with in all kinds of 

 gardens throughout the country, whilst the special 

 attention of rosarians was directed to it about twenty 

 years ago, when Lord Penzance succeeded in rearing 

 hybrids between it and various other roses. Some of 

 these have very beautiful flowers, and all have the 

 advantage of possessing fragrant foliage to a greater 

 or less extent. Both the Sweet Brier and the various 

 hybrids, or Penzance Briers, as they are called, make 

 very good ornamental hedges. 



Rosa spinosissima. — ^This is the Scotch or Burnet 

 Rose. It is met with from the extreme North of Scot- 

 land to the Channel Islands and is frequently seen as a 

 bush between one and a half and three feet in height, 



