Rosa mollis Sm. s.s., Soft Downy-rose
Account Summary
Native, rare, but very probably under-recorded. European boreo-temperate.
1881-2; Barrington, R.M.; Devenish Island, Lower Lough Erne.
June to October.
R. mollis has ashy-grey leaves, softly hairy (tomentose) on both sides, but the hairs are not glandular. It occurs in woodland, hedges, scrub and rough grassland, on rocky streamsides and rock outcrops, screes, cliffs, sand dunes, waste ground and by paths and roadsides on a variety of well-drained soils (Sell & Murrell 2014). Despite the wide range of habitats and soils that this suckering, thicket-forming species generally occupies elsewhere in B & I, there are just twelve records for it in Fermanagh, equally split between pre-1954 and post-1975. It has been found in a total of ten tetrads, thinly scattered, mainly but not exclusively on limestone. In view of this and the fact that it is described in the FNEI 3 as being, "frequent, especially on the basalt", it is very likely that a more concerted approach to roses would be certain to show that it is seriously under-recorded in Fermanagh. The New Atlas hectad map appears to show R. mollis is decidedly rare and scattered in Ireland and the current author (RSF) believes it very probably is under-represented throughout, especially in comparison with Britain.
RHN and the current author believe the very poor taxonomic treatment provided for the Downy-roses in the widely used An Irish Flora (1977) is the major factor that created this situation. R. mollis is fairly readily distinguished from the other common Downy-roses, R. tomentosa and R. sherardii, and especially so at the very end of the season since the erect sepals persist on the fruit hip until it decays on the bush. Real difficulty with identification does arise, however, since R. mollis hybridises with five other common roses, including the two just named. It crosses most frequently with R. spinosissima, however, and when this occurs the hips of the hybrid, R. × sabinii are red – not black, and they most resemble smaller versions of R. mollis hips (Roses Handbook).
There is only one local record of this particular hybrid (see separate species account above), but undoubtedly it too is under-recorded, since Fermanagh has plenty of suitable habitats for both of the parent species.
Sell & Murrell (2014) now recognise six varieties of R. mollis, the distribution of them remaining unknown.
Growth form and preferred habitats
A small, much branched, usually pale greyish-green, summer annual therophyte up to 10 cm tall, with digitately or palmately lobed leaves, this sexually reproducing form of Aphanes is very much more local than the apomictic A. arvensis (Parsley-piert). It is greener and more slender than the latter, flowers from April to October and has even smaller fruits than A. arvensis s.s., showing no constriction between the upper and lower parts, and the sepals are convergent (New Flora of the BI 2019, p. 277, Figs 1, 2). It is less common than A. arvensis s.s. and appears to be confined to short turf, mossy areas on acidic sandy or gravelly soils, or dry rocky ground, eg on roadsides, along tracks and in quarries and sand-pits. It is not as confined to well-drained soils as A. arvensis, but is more definitely a plant of acidic conditions (Garrard & Streeter 1983). In Fermanagh, these conditions are also found locally on or near lakeshores and on river banks.
Fermanagh occurrence

The limited number of records that have accumulated in the Fermanagh Flora Database (18 finds in 14 tetrads) are mainly the work of RHN, facts that strongly suggest this rather insignificant-looking little species is under-recorded. Otherwise, as the tetrad map shows, it appears to be very local around the Tempo area, with very few (six or seven) records elsewhere in the county.
Additional to the first record are the following: Poll Beg District, NW of Boho, 11 June 1978, M.J.P. Scannell, DBN; all the remaining records involve RHN – Knockennis, 3 km NE of Brougher Mountain, 7 July 1988; Pubble Bridge, Tempo River, 1 October 1988; fen at Feddan Bog, 8 June 1992; fields at Largy Lough, 13 August 1992; sand pit at Pubble Bridge, 11 September 1994 & 20 August 1999, with RSF; Drumcreen, Ballinamallard River, 16 April 1995; roadside Ballyreagh, 5 km NW of Tempo, 31 December 1995, with HJN; roadside at Tempo, 13 April 1996; Tully, W of Edenmore, 21 June 1997, with RSF; N of Many Burns Bridge, Many Burns River, 3 May 1999; Pubble Forest, 1 December 2001; sandpit at Pubble Bridge, 28 August 2004, with RSF; Agnaglack, 20 April 2009, with HJN; Gublusk Bay, Lower Lough Erne, 28 February 2010; Killyreagh House near Tamlagh, 10 June 2010.
British and Irish occurrence
The New Atlas map shows the species widespread throughout both islands, but much more thinly scattered in Ireland, yet with a slightly greater presence in the south and the sunny south-east corner, both areas which attract more visitors and where the local recorders are more energetic than the norm (Preston et al. 2002). Thus the mapped distribution of A. australis across the whole of Ireland suggests probable under-recording in comparison with the situation in Britain.
European and world occurrence
It stretches northwards from a scattered presence in Spain and Portugal through W Europe to S Sweden and eastwards to NE Poland, the Carpathians and the Adriatic. Very local in the Balkans and present only on the W Mediterranean Isles (Minorca, Mallorca, Sardinia and Sicily), but also recorded on Madeira (Press & Short 1994; Sell & Murrell 2014). Beyond Europe, it occurs in Morocco and Algeria and is introduced in E & S parts of N America (Hultén & Fries 1986, Map 1156).
Threats
None.