Rosa multiflora
Rosa spinosissima
Japanese rose, multi-flower rose, multiflora rosa, multiflora rose, rambler rose, rosier multiflore
burnet rose, rosier pimprenelle, Scotch rose, Scots rose
erect, arching, procumbent, or climbing, 15–30(–100) dm;
bark of canes green to reddish brown;
infrastipular prickles paired, curved, rarely erect, stout, 4–6 × 3 mm, internodal prickles fewer, similar, aciculi absent.
deciduous, 5–12 cm;
stipules narrowly lanceolate, 8–13 × 1.5–2 mm, auricles flared, 4–8 mm, margins fimbriate, cleft to 3 mm, usually stipitate-glandular or gland-tipped, surfaces glabrous, sometimes puberulent, eglandular or sessile- or stipitate-glandular;
petiole and rachis with pricklets, puberulent, pubescent, or tomentose, usually stipitate-glandular, sometimes eglandular;
leaflets (5–)7–9(–11), terminal: petiolule 7–13 mm, blade obovate to elliptic, 10–45 × 8–25 mm, membranous, base cuneate, margins 1(–2)-serrate, teeth 12–20 per side, sharp, rarely gland-tipped, apex acute to long-acuminate, abaxial surfaces glabrous or pubescent (especially midveins), eglandular, adaxial green, dull, glabrous.
stipules 9–14 × 2–4 mm, auricles 2.5–5 mm, margins entire or serrate-glandular, surfaces glabrous;
petiole and rachis with pricklets, pubescent, glandular;
leaflets: blade oblong-ovate or suborbiculate, (5–)7–9(–11) × 5–8 mm, or broadly elliptic, 5–22 × 5–12 mm, base obtuse or rounded to broadly cuneate, margins 1-serrate, sometimes multi-serrate, teeth 8–12 per side, gland-tipped, apex obtuse to acute.
5–30+-flowered.
5–12 mm, pubescent (especially proximally), sometimes glabrous, stipitate-glandular or eglandular;
bracts 1 or 2, narrowly lanceolate, 5–10 × 1–2 mm, margins short stipitate-glandular, surfaces glabrous, eglandular.
bracts absent.
sweet-scented, 1.5–2.5 cm diam.;
hypanthium oblong, 2 × 1–1.5 mm, eglandular or stipitate-glandular;
sepals ovate-acuminate, 6–10 × 1.5–2 mm shorter than petals, margins pinnatifid, tip 1–2 × 0.5 mm, abaxial surfaces glabrous, usually stipitate-glandular;
petals single or double, white, rarely pale pink, 7–13 × 5–9 mm;
carpels 6–11, styles glabrous, exsert 3–4 mm beyond stylar orifice rims (0.5–1 mm diam.), hypanthial disc 2–3 mm diam.
hypanthium 3–5 × 3–4 mm;
sepal tip 2–3 mm, apex acuminate or caudate-acuminate;
petals white, 15–25 × 14–23 mm;
styles exsert 2 mm beyond stylar orifice of hypanthial disc.
orange-red to red, ovoid to globose, (4–)5–7(–10) × 5–7 mm, eglandular or sparsely stipitate-glandular.
6–11, tan, 3.8–5 × 2–2.5 mm.
8–12, dark tan, 4 × 2.5 mm.
internodal, dense on main stems, sparser on some flowering branches, paired or single, erect or ± curved, terete, 5–6 × 1–3 mm, mixed with shorter prickles and usually aciculi.
= 14.
= 28.
Rosa multiflora
Rosa spinosissima
Rosa multiflora was introduced in North America before 1811 as an ornamental. In the twentieth century, seedlings were widely provided by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service for growing hedgerows and similar plantings where it thrived in more acidic soil east of the Rocky Mountains. The species invaded pastures, degraded forage quality, reduced grazing area and agricultural productivity, and was widely reported as a noxious weed, causing, for instance, severe eye and skin irritations in cattle. Domestic sheep and goats feed on leaves, new buds, and shoots, and goats in pastures with severe R. multiflora infestations can virtually eliminate this rose within four seasons. The USDA Forest Service reported in 2006 that in 31 states the species had become a major conservation issue (S. E. Banasiak and S. J. Meiners 2009).
Vigorous climbers known as the “hard-luck” roses because of their great tolerance to frost, neglect, and varying habitats have been developed from Rosa multiflora, which has long served as a major root stock for budding roses in the rose industry worldwide.
Achenes of Rosa multiflora have long been used as a purgative in Japanese traditional medicine.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Rosa spinosissima hybridizes with other species of the genus. Some garden cultivars are more robust and glandular than wild types.
Rosa spinosissima is an erect, relatively low subshrub characterized by erect, relatively short stems with relatively long rhizomes forming dense patches. Stems extend to 10 dm with dense, intermixed internodal prickles and aciculi and lacking infrastipular prickles. Leaflets are relatively small and mostly 9–11; flowers are solitary and petals are white; inflorescences lack bracts; and hips are lustrous, blackish purple with erect, persistent sepals.
Using Rosa spinosissima as one parent, George Harison crossed R. ×foetida (Austrian brier rose) in his New York City garden in about 1830 to produce Harison's yellow rose, R. ×harisonii Rivers. This unique yellow flowering rose was planted widely as pioneers moved west across the plains where even today it has been found in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, Nevada, Texas, Utah, and other states.
Of a group of medicinal plants tested for antioxidant properties, Rosa spinosissima, with the largest amounts of phenolic compounds, proved to have the highest radical scavenging activity and provided the highest peroxidation inhibition (A. Mavi et al. 2004).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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