They are 2–4 cm diameter with five petals, which produce a distinctive globular dark purple to black hips.

Similar plants native further east in Asia, sometimes treated as Rosa pimpinellifolia var.

subalpina, are now regarded as a separate species Rosa oxyacantha (Flora of China); it differs in having pink flowers and red hips.

Numerous cultivars are grown, of which 'Stanwell Perpetual' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

In emblematic terms it is particularly associated with Scotland, where it is traditionally referenced in poetry and song, and is a symbolic native plant second only to the thistle.