Burnet Rose, or Scotch Rose, is a small deciduous shrub; if forms so many suckers that it becomes a bushy patch. The flowers are a cream colour, and occasionally pink. The leaflets are small with roundish toothed edges. The stems are immensely prickly. The fruit is unmistakeable, large and black.
Burnet Rose likes to grow on sand dunes and between rocks and limestone pavements. In Ireland it is mainly a seaside plant and it is found round the coast. Occasionally it hybridizes with Dog Rose. The Scotch roses of gardens are derived from Burnet Rose.
It is in flower from May to July.
Burnet Rose grows over most of Britain, but is rare in the south-east.
It is widespread in Europe and temperate Asia as far as Manchuria and north-west China.