Dog-roses (Rosa sect. Caninae): towards a consensus taxonomy

Abstract

This is an attempt to outline a consensus taxonomy for the dog-roses (Rosa sect. Caninae) of northern, western and central Temperate Europe, including the British Isles, by combining the characteristics of the main British and Continental systems in use today. It involves adopting the slightly narrower species concept of the Continent with the wider recognition of hybrids followed in Britain. The proposed system is based on the traditional view of species of dog-roses; it is considered premature to attempt a ‘phylogenetic’ system based on the highly fragmentary data that are so far available.