Appearance
It is a rather low erect deciduous plant usually from 20–140 cm high but sometimes up to 2 metres. It spreads by basal shoots and can cover large areas. The stems have very numerous stiff bristles and many straight prickles. The young stems and prickles and the mature leaves tend to be very red with young growth a bright scarlet and older growth a deep maroon.The flowers are cream-white although rarely also pale pink. They are 2–4 cm diameter with five petals, which produce a distinctive globular dark purple to black hips.
Naming
Similar plants native further east in Asia, sometimes treated as ''Rosa pimpinellifolia'' var. ''subalpina'', are now regarded as a separate species ''Rosa oxyacantha'' ; it differs in having pink flowers and red hips.Numerous varieties are cultivated, of which "Stanwell Perpetual" has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. It has very pale pink double flowers, fading to white.
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