This new Handbook is the most comprehensive account of the wild roses of Great Britain and Ireland ever published. It is the result of over thirty years of field recording, as well as extensive literature and herbarium research, which has uncovered much previously unpublished historical information.
Over 200 pages in this handbook are devoted to the species accounts that include descriptions and over 250 photographic illustrations of the 15 native species, over 20 aliens, and the majority of the 82 hybrids that have been recorded in the British Isles, many described and illustrated for the first time. Details of habitat, frequency and distribution, local variation, temporal changes and history are given for the majority of the species and more common hybrids.
A dichotomous key includes native species, the more frequent aliens, and three common and widespread hybrids. The detailed attention given to the descriptions and illustrations of the difficult and critical species and hybrids is a major feature of the species accounts.