Rosa acicularis Lindl.

A lax shrub to 8 ft high; stems glabrous, densely clad with slender, straight or slightly curved prickles and shorter bristly ones; flowering branches sometimes unarmed. Leaflets mostly five or seven, sometimes nine, 3⁄4 to 23⁄8 in. long, elliptic, oblong-elliptic or ovate, usually acute at the apex, edged with coarse simple teeth, bluish green above, greyish and glabrous or sparsely downy beneath. Stipules narrow, glandular at the edge, the free part acute or acuminate. Flowers usually solitary, more rarely in twos or threes, 11⁄2 to 23⁄8 in. wide, fragrant, rosy pink. Pedicels smooth or glandular-bristly. Sepals narrowly lanceolate, slightly expanded at the apex, more or less upright after flowering. Styles woolly, free. Fruits bright red, about 1 in. long, smooth, ellipsoid, globose or pear-shaped, often with a distinct neck, crowned by the persistent sepals.

Native of the Old World from European Russia and bordering parts of Scandinavia to the Pacific, south to N. China and Japan; also of N. America, though the var. bourgeauiana appears to be commoner there than the typical state. It was described by Lindley in 1820 from a garden plant introduced from Siberia. Although much cultivated in Siberia, and used there as a hedging plant, R. acicularis is uncommon in Britain outside scientific collections, though worth cultivating in semi-wild spots for its large pink flowers, borne in May, and abundant red fruits.