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There are indeed quite many of them, indigenous ones as well as cultivated varieties that have run wild and become adapted to our nature. They grow as shrubs with woody and erect stems, heights up to a couple of metres, as well as quite low plants. It is certain however that they all have thorns on the canes and hips or berries of different shapes, orange or light red in colour.

 

The most common are

Cinnamon rose /Rosa majalis /, growing in dry meadows and forests. Its fruits are smooth and egg-shaped, about a centimetre in diameter.

Glaucuous dog-rose /Rosa vosagiaca /, prefers drier habitats.

/Rosa subcanina / is light-loving and isn’t easily found in forests.

Dog-rose /Rosa canina /, more sparsely occurring.

 

Just in case here are also the most noticeable wild roses that can be seen in nature in places. If the fruits are „hairy“, or covered with glandular hairs, it may be:

Sweet briar or eglantine rose /Rosa rubiginosa /, although its fruits can sometimes be without glandular hairs; the whole shrub gives off an apple fragrance particularly when the leaves are crushed between one’s fingers.

Soft downy rose  /Rosa mollis /, its fruits are dark red, globose and „hairy“. It is found on the western islands but only seldom in the western part of the mainland.

 

The most widely spread and best known of the cultivated varieties is the rugosa rose, /Rosa rugosa /. Habitats mainly the seashore but also the Lake Peipsi shores and in places sandy forests. Its canes are densely thorny and hairy. The fruits flattened (oblate) and large,  diameter up to three centimetres.

 

How to use the rose hips, known and valued everywhere, is another story – a proper search will yield thousands of preparation modes.

 

Rugosa rose. Purekkari

 

Rugosa roses flower until the frosts and their large, fleshy fruits are pleasant to eat raw, although they have less vitamin content than the native ones. The cleaning of them is picky work: cut the hip in two, extract the seeds (good to use a teaspoon for this) and enjoy, or brew a pleasant tea on the camp fire.