Rosa tomentosa Sm. agg., Harsh Downy-rose
Account Summary
Native, occasional, possibly under-recorded or mis-identified to some extent. European temperate.
1881; Stewart, S.A.; Co Fermanagh.
May to October.
In terms of record numbers, this is the third most frequently found rose in Fermanagh with 58 records from 46 tetrads, identified by many recorders over a hundred year period. Almost all of these records, however, were identified using earlier taxonomy and specifically Prof David Webb's 1977 6th edition of An Irish Flora, which on account of the then perceived great difficulty with their separation, lumped R. mollis and R. sherardii along with R. tomentosa into a species aggregate termed the 'R. tomentosa group'.
Where roses are taken beyond 'Rosa sp.', most of the common roses, certainly from 1974 on, are listed as either R. canina agg. or as R. tomentosa, meaning the aggregate group. Some of the earlier published records give us a little more detail. In the paper detailing his finds around the shores of Lough Erne, R.M. Barrington (1884) wrote, "many forms of this species occur; some coming near R. mollissima (Willd.). White- and red-flowered varieties seem pretty equally distributed." Then he goes on to say, "Mr. Baker [the Kew referee, J.G. Baker] considers one of my specimens var. scabriuscula; the other varieties were not sufficiently perfect with fruit, etc., to identify positively." It is very likely that this represents the hybrid with R. canina.
In the Revised Typescript Flora of Fermanagh R.D. Meikle (1975) explains that most of the rose records made by him and his friends in the 1946-50 period were checked by the referee Mr N.Y. Sandwith. The seven records made by Meikle and his co-workers for the R. tomentosa agg. are given as follows: limestone pavement near Crevinish Castle; near Ardunshin; upper part of Donaghmore Glen; near Hanging Rock; Inishrook; by Lough Melvin near Garrison; and Knockmore.
There are 35 further records in the Fermanagh Flora Database dating from 1974-98. Any of these with specimens would need to be reassessed since, with hindsight provided by the New Atlas, RHN and the current author (RSF) believe they might now be mainly assigned to R. sherardii or possibly some might well be the hybrid between R. tomentosa and R. canina (R. × scabriuscula Sm.), as in the case of Barrington's record mentioned above. All in all, a very unsatisfactory situation exists.
In their very detailed rose treatment, Sell & Murrell (2014) recognise eight varieties within R. tomentosa Sm.
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.