British Native Trees
and Shrubs

Burnet Rose Rosa pimpinellifolia (Rosaceae)

And I will make thee beds of roses
With a thousand fragrant posies,
And a cop of flowers and a kirtle
Emrboider’d all with leaves of myrtle.

The Passionate Shepherd to his Love
Christopher Marlowe

This charming, bushy little deciduous shrub could be called the seaside rose as it flourishes on sand and limestone around the coast. It is low-growing, seldom above 60 cm in height, and has upright, much-branched woody stems armed with masses of straight, slender prickles intermixed with stiff bristles. The decorative leaves have from three to five pairs of toothed leaflets and a terminal leaflet, each 5-20 mm long. From May to July the bushes are smothered in creamy-white, rarely pink, flowers up to 4.0 cm across which appear singly at the tips of the stems. Each has five, broad, notched petals and numerous golden stamens at the centre. The leathery, round hips are crowned with long sepals and unlike those of other native roses they ripen to blackish-purple in September.

Burnet rose is found mainly in dunes and sandy places around the coasts of England and locally on inland heaths and downland, ascending to 450 m in the Pennines.

This is an appealing rose for a shrub border or for a dry bank or large rock garden. It prefers an open site and full sun and needs free-draining soil, preferably alkaline. It is useful in that it tolerates very dry conditions. It suckers freely and needs controlling if it is to be kept within bounds, but it can be an advantage if the rose is needed to cover bare ground. The Latin and English names refer to the resemblance of the leaves to those of burnet-saxifrage, Pimpinella saxifraga, a member of the carrot family. It is easily propagated by separating the suckers in autumn. Avoid the double forms which may be offered by nurseries.

The flowers do not contain much nectar but are visited and pollinated by bees, beetles and thrips seeking pollen. The leaf stalks and mid-rib are attacked by gall-wasps which produce pea galls, and the leaflets may be mined by the larvae of small moths.

Page last updated - January 10, 2002  

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