There are a great many wild roses, pink, white, and crimson, but the
pink Dog Rose is the commonest. Every one has gathered it in the sunny
June days.
You must notice a curious thing about the seed-vessel of this plant.
Only the top of it rises in the middle of the stamens. But if you look
at the back of the flower, you see a small green swelling at the end of
the stalk, and the sepals and petals and the stamens stand in a ring
round the top of this swelling. This is the seed-vessel, and in autumn,
after the flower is withered, it will grow into a round red berry, which
is called a hip.
The sepals of the rose are very pretty. They are cut up into many points
like small leaves, and after the flower is withered these points fold
right back and cover the green berry. Later on they dry up and fall off,
leaving the berry bare.
The rose leaves are too well known to need any description. Notice the
two narrow green leaves, like wings, which grow at the foot of the
leaf-stalk, clasping the main stem.
The Dog Rose is very thorny. There are large hooks all over the main
stem, as well as close to the flower, and these hooks are often coloured
a bright crimson.