Rosa dumalis, the glaucous dog rose, is a species of rose in the Rosaceae family. The native range of this rose stretches from Europe to the Caucasus and also down to northwestern Africa.

Description

It has a deciduous scrambling shrub form in the wild and spreads by suckers. It is a shrub that grows 1 – high. It has long, bent thorns. It bears fragrant, dark or light pink flowers in June and July. The autumn produced hips are oval, quite soft, and rich in ascorbic acid (vitamin C).

Taxonomy

Not all authorities accept it as distinct, with the Flora Europaea (encyclopedia of plants, published up to 1994) treating it as a synonym of Rosa canina or R. squarrosa. On the other hand, Plants of the World Online treats Rosa vosagiaca (accepted by Flora Europaea) as a synonym of Rosa dumalis. It is an accepted name and verified by United States Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Service on 2 January 2015, and by World Flora Online. Its was first described and published by German botanist Johann Matthäus Bechstein in Forstbotanik (published in Henning, Erfurt), vol.241 on page 969 in 1810. The specific epithet of dumalis is derived from the Latin word dumosus meaning thorny, compact and bushy. It has the common name of Glaucous dog rose. Microsatellite markers (simple sequence repeats (SSRs)) have been used by plant geneticists to determine relationships within the Rosa family. It has been found that there was a high degree of similarity between Rosa brunonii and R. dumalis was supported by both molecular and morpholgical data.

Distribution

It is native to several countries; (in Europe) Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine and Yugoslavia. Parts of Russia (Belarus, European Russia and the North Caucasus area), as well as (in Africa), Algeria and Morocco.

Uses

The rose hips of Rosa canina and Rosa dumalis have been collected and traditionally used in Turkey for several decades. They are mainly collected during winter months and then they can be processed into several products such as marmalade, syrup, jam, etc. Also healthy teas and jellies. They also have been known as medicinal plants and used in folk medicine for quite a while. The rose hips were used to treat coughs, stomach aches and sore throats. In Turkey, due to its thorns and scrambling habit, it is often used as a fence (or hedge) in open areas, especially on the edges of arable fields.

Other sources