A most attractive shrub, the Japanese Rose bears deep pink, slightly wrinkled five-petalled flowers (6–10 cm across) on upright stems from June to August. Reaching to 1.5 m high, it forms dense thickets, its branches carrying thorns which are almost straight. It has shiny, furrowed leaves which are pinnate and have 5–9 leaflets. This beautiful rose is sweetly scented and in autumn it produces large, distinctive red hips (2–3 cm across) which are covered in little bristles. This shrub grows by sending out suckers which form new roots; it is not native to Ireland and it belongs to the Rosaceae family.
I first identified this plant near Duncormick in County Wexford in 2005 and I photographed it there in 2007.
If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre
