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Rosa canina

The dog rose is native to the regions around the Mediterranean: in North Africa, including the Canary Islands and Madeira; in Asia, including the Middle East, Western and parts of Central Asia as well as the whole of the Indian subcontient; and in Europe, including the North (Scandinavia and the British Isles) and East (through to the Caucasus Mountains). In other parts of the world, especially North America, Australia and New Zealand, the species has escaped cultivation and is now classified as invasive.

 

The dog appears in common names for the species in many European languages and there are at least three theories for how it got there. The first is that the word 'dog' was used in such names as alternative for 'common' (with all its connotations), as this was the species of wild rose you were most likely to encounter in the wild and also that it was worthless in comparison with cultivated roses. The second that the plant's thorns were either reminiscent of dog's teeth or that they kept dogs away from the bush. Finally, there was a belief that the plant's root could cure the bite of a mad (or rabid) dog. While I like the first theory best, there does not seem to be enough evidence to prefer it over the others.

 

While roses usually produce rose-hips as fruit, it is the rose-hip of the dog rose that is used in alcoholic beverages, infusions, or sweets everywhere in its native range. The dog rose with its five, individually detachable petals is also the archetype of a rose (cultivated roses will usually have more petals, of course, but in nature roses usually have five (rarely four) petals). As such, the dog rose was the basis for the stylised roses of medieval European heraldry (those of the Houses of Lancaster and York, red and white respecitively, for example).

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Uploaded on June 25, 2024