These are hybrids of Rosa eglanteria, the old Sweet Briar of Shakespeare. They share with the wild European parent handsome small foliage that is scented of green apples. On humid mornings the air around them is heavily perfumed, and when the passer-by brushes them or crushes their leaves, the scent appears. A crop of bright red hips in the fall provides a winter bonus. At the turn of the 19th century Lord Penzance bred a number of fine hybrids, all in the classic mould of the wild Eglantine.