Dog Roses

Image: © Ian Dodds Taken: 12 Jun 2022

This picture was taken from the hard path that runs along the perimeter of Bellsquarry Wood on the other side of Tantallon Gardens, a residential street on the edge of Livingston - all the streets off the road it comes off are named after Scottish castles, possibly because there is a ruin called Murieston Castle a short distance away which, due to it being right next to some farm buildings, has yet to be photographed on this site. I initially assumed that the flowers must have got here due to some seeds blowing across from a nearby garden. However, due to the power of plant identification apps (LeafSnap in this case) I can report that this is probably here naturally, and is in fact Britain's most common wild rose. The leaves that belong to it are the ones formed of mostly seven, but sometimes five, leaflets (the botanical term for these kind of leaves is pinnate). The name supposedly derives from an old Greek belief that the flowers were a cure for a rabid dog bite.

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