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Sweet briar (Rosa rubiginosa)

Sweet briar forms dense, prickly patches that reduce pasture productivity and carrying capacity, and can restrict stock movement, vehicle access and access to water. It can also compete with native plants and harbour rabbits.

Key facts

Type: Weed, shrub.

Native to: Western Asia and much of Europe.

Established in: NSW, ACT, VIC, TAS, SA.

Other names: Briar Rose, Sweet Briar Rose, Eglantine.

Best time to act: Flowering usually occurs in late spring, when plants are actively growing; treat with herbicide near flowering, and use cut-and-paint preferably before fruits ripen in summer and autumn.

Identification

  • An upright, partly winter-deciduous shrub, usually 1.5 to 2 m tall but sometimes reaching 3 m.
  • Its young stems are smooth and green to reddish-brown, becoming rough and woody, with numerous backwards-curving prickles about 1 to 1.5 cm long.
  • Leaves have 5 to 7 toothed leaflets, and the undersides and leaf stalks have glandular hairs that give off an apple-like fragrance.
  • Pink to pinkish-white flowers, 2 to 5 cm across, grow singly or in small clusters.
  • The fruit, or rosehip, is oval and orange to orange-red, becoming almost black with age.
  • Look-alike: Dog rose (Rosa canina) has hairless flower stalks and sepals, mostly hairless leaves and pointed leaflet tips; sweet briar has glandular hairs on its flower stalks and leaf undersides.
  • Look-alike: McCartney rose (Rosa bracteata) has white flowers, mostly hairless leaves and densely hairy or spiny flower stalks and sepals; sweet briar flowers are pink or white and its leaves have glandular hairs underneath.

Where it grows

In Australia it occurs in all states and territories except the Northern Territory, especially in cooler, higher-rainfall regions, in pastures, grasslands, woodlands, forests, riparian areas, roadsides and fence lines.

Why it matters

  • Dense patches compete with pasture plants and reduce agricultural productivity and land carrying capacity.
  • The prickly growth can restrict stock movement and access to water, and restrict vehicle access.
  • Patches can harbour rabbits, and the plant is a potential biosecurity risk because it can host fruit fly.
  • In native ecosystems, established plants can out-compete native shrubs and prevent overstorey regeneration.

How it spreads

  • Sweet briar now spreads mainly by seed. Birds and foxes eat the brightly coloured fruit and can deposit seeds elsewhere.
  • Seeds may also be carried by streams and water flowing off steep country.
  • It can also reproduce vegetatively from perennial roots that sucker and from crown fragments.

Control options

  • Remove small plants by hand or grubbing; for established plants, remove the crown fully to help prevent regrowth.
  • Removal by hand, grubbing, bulldozing or tractor is more effective when the ground is wet; deep cultivation can be used on arable land with follow-up cultivation.
  • Use registered herbicides, including cut-and-paint for individual plants or foliar spraying for larger infestations, and follow up to control regrowth.
  • Goats or sheep can help control larger infestations; goats can damage larger plants over time.

Hygiene and washdown

  • Dispose of removed fruits safely, as the seeds are viable and can be spread by animals and water.
  • Inspect and clean vehicles, plant and footwear before leaving an infested area, paying attention to tyres, radiators, belly plates, tracks and floor mats.
  • Wash down at a designated bay where runoff is contained and can be monitored for seedlings.
  • Record each washdown so the client has evidence of clean entry and exit.

Classification by state

  • Australia (national): No national listing. Managed under state and territory law.
  • Queensland: Not prohibited or restricted. Not listed as prohibited or restricted matter in Queensland. Everyone must also take all reasonable and practical steps to minimise its risks (the general biosecurity obligation).
  • New South Wales: Regional priority in 2 of 11 regions. Regional priority weed in North West, Northern Tablelands. The general biosecurity duty applies: anyone dealing with it must prevent, eliminate or minimise the risk it poses.
  • Victoria: Regionally controlled / restricted weed (varies by region). Where it is regionally controlled, landowners must take all reasonable steps to prevent its growth and spread on their land. Where it is a restricted weed, trade in it (including the plant, its seed or contaminated material) is prohibited.
  • South Australia: Declared plant. Depending on the declaration, it can be an offence to move it on public roads or sell it, and landowners may be required to control it on their land.
  • Western Australia: Not listed. Not found in the Western Australian Organism List. Check with DPIRD before moving or keeping it.
  • Tasmania: Not declared. Not a declared weed in Tasmania. Other laws may still apply.
  • Northern Territory: Not declared. Not on the NT A to Z weed list, and Weeds Australia does not list it as declared in the NT. Check the NT declared weeds list before moving or planting it.
  • Australian Capital Territory: Declared pest, prohibited. It is a declared pest throughout the ACT. Dealing with it, such as selling, moving or keeping it, is prohibited.

Legal obligations

Every state and territory places a duty on landholders and people working on land to prevent the spread of invasive species, such as the general biosecurity obligation in Queensland and the general biosecurity duty in New South Wales. Declarations and control requirements differ between states and local government areas, so check the current official list before work starts.

  • New South Wales: Biosecurity Act 2015 (NSW), administered by NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development
  • Australian Capital Territory: Biosecurity Act 2023 (ACT), administered by ACT Biosecurity
  • Victoria: Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994 (Vic), administered by Agriculture Victoria
  • Tasmania: Biosecurity Act 2019 (Tas), administered by Biosecurity Tasmania
  • South Australia: Landscape South Australia Act 2019 (SA), administered by the regional landscape board

Sources