Sweet-briar.Rosa rubiginosa.
Found in pastures during June.
This lovely, branching, leafy bush grows to be 7 or 8 feet high under favoring conditions, but is most often about 3 or 5 feet in height; its stalks and branches are large and strong, round, firm-fibred, and smooth, with frequent slender thorns which curve backward. In color, a full clear green when young, only dashed with red-bronze, but becoming red-brown when old. The thorns are highly polished, and of a strong red color when old.
The little leaflets, of the 3- to 7-divided leaf, are oval, with a prominent midrib (upon which they are occasionally creased); the margin is doubly notched, the ribs and foot-stems hairy with little prickles; the upper surface is soft to the touch, while the under is slightly sticky with a resinous gum, which yields a delicious aromatic perfume. The color is a cool and beautiful green. The leaves clasp the stalk with a pair of small fine-pointed wings (“stipules”); they are placed alternately, either singly or in groups, and close together.
The flower is composed of 5 heart-shaped petals, curving like a shell, of an exquisitely delicate texture and smoothness; their color a lovely creamy-rose tint. The stamens are many, curling, and pale straw color. The calyx is 5-parted, the spreading tips notched 3 or 5 times; they are smooth, with a velvet lining which is tinted a very pale creamy-green, while the outside of the calyx is bright green. The flowers are set in groups on little twigs, and scattered profusely along the stalks.
When the flower opens, the calyx-tips turn back. The haws are large, and of a brilliant coral-red color which they retain through the winter. The sturdy young shoots, which grow rapidly, are thickly protected by long bristles of a rusty red color. An element of beauty, in the growth of this most perfect rose, exists in the free curve with which its branches bend downward their wreaths of bloom. The odor of the leaves is like that of green apples.