Rosa canina, Dog Rose, Wild Brier,
Hebrew: ורד הכלב, Arabic: (warada jawri bry), نسرين (nisrin)

Scientific name:		Rosa canina L.
Common name:		Dog Rose, Wild Brier
Hebrew name:		ורד הכלב
Arabic name:		ورد جوري بري (warada jawri bry), نسرين (nisrin)
Family:		Rosaceae, ורדיים

Life form:		phanerophyte, shrub
Spinescence:		Emergences
Leaves:		Alternate, compound, pinnate, dentate or serrate
Flowers:		White or pink, 5-petalled flowers, 4-6 cm across and in clusters of 1-5
Flowering Period:		May, June, July, August
Habitat:		Mediterranean maquis and forest
Distribution:		The Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:		Euro-Siberian - Med - Irano-Turanian
Summer shedding:		Perennating

Derivation of the botanical name: Rosa, an ancient Latin name whose meaning has been lost. canina, of or pertaining to a dog; canine; of dogs. Linnaeus (1707–1778), named this plant Rosa canina in 1753. The Hebrew word Vered, וֶרֶד, Greek: rodon; Aramaic: Varda; Arabic: warad, ورد . The Hebrew word hakelev, הכלב, a tranlation from the scientific name canina, dog. The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy. Dioscorides (ca.40- ca.90 CE.) writes in his Materia Medica: "Rosa canina — Dog Rose, Hiprose, Canker Flower, Dog Briar, Cynosbatus [dogs’ bush] (also called oxyacantha) is a shrub much bigger than a common bush — almost the size of a tree. It bears leaves a great deal broader than myrtle, and has strong hairs around the sprigs, white flowers, and somewhat long fruit like the kernel of the olive. When this is ripe it grows red and the stuff within is downy. The dried fruit stops discharges from the intestines (the downy stuff of it is taken out for this is worthless for the arteries). It is made hot in wine and taken as a drink". The hips of the Dog Rose are an excellent source of readily absorbed vitamins. Very rich in vitamin C, among the richest sources of any plant and were collected to make rose-hip syrup during World War II. The ancient Romans used Rosa canina for the bites of rabid dogs, and in the first century CE., Pliny, recorded 32 different disorders that responded well to Rose preparations and the first treatment of rabies: "A Roman woman dreamed she was to send the roots of the rose to her son serving in the Roman army in Spain. Just before the package arrived, the soldier was bitten by a mad dog and contacted rabies, and a tea of the roots cured the disease."