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climbing prairie rose, climbing rose, prairie rose

red-spine rose, rosier brillant, shining rose

Habit Shrubs or subshrubs, some forming clusters.
Stems

erect to procumbent and vinelike, 10–20(–60) dm;

bark of canes green to light brown;

prickles infrastipular and internodal, single or paired, declined, usually curved, sometimes erect, stout, 3–4 × 7–9 mm, broad-based, sometimes mixed with aciculi, rarely absent.

spreading, procumbent, or erect, 2–8(–10) dm, openly branched;

bark dark brown, glabrous;

infrastipular prickles sometimes present, paired, erect or declined, rarely curved, subulate, 6 × 6 mm, base glabrous, internodal prickles usually dense, mixed with aciculi, erect or declined, subulate, terete, 2–7 × 2 mm, eglandular.

Leaves

deciduous, 8–12 cm;

stipules narrowly lanceolate, 12–15 × 0.5–3 mm, auricles flared, 3–4 mm, margins entire, sometimes fimbriate, stipitate-glandular, surfaces glabrous, sparsely glandular;

petiole and rachis with or without pricklets, usually pubescent, stipitate-glandular;

leaflets 3 (mostly younger stems)–5 (older stems), terminal: petiolule 10–16 mm, blade ovate to elliptic-ovate, (30–)48(–70) × (20–)27(–40) mm, membranous or leathery, base rounded or obtuse, margins 1(–2)-serrate, teeth (18–)35(–42) per side, coarse, gland-tipped, apex usually acuminate, abaxial surfaces pale green, glabrous or pubescent to tomentose, sometimes sessile- and/or stipitate-glandular, adaxial darker green, dull, glabrous.

3–10 cm;

stipules 10–14 × 4–5.5 mm, auricles flared, 4–5 mm, margins entire or glandular-serrate, eglandular or gland-tipped, surfaces glabrous, eglandular;

petiole and rachis with pricklets, glabrous, rarely puberulent, eglandular;

leaflets (5–)7–9, terminal: petiolule 3–5(–9) mm, blade narrowly elliptic or lanceolate, rarely ovate, 13–27(–40) × 7–17 mm, membranous, margins 1-serrate, eglandular, rarely gland-tipped, teeth 12–17 per side, sometimes gland-tipped, apex acute to subacuminate, abaxial surfaces green, glabrous or pubescent, eglandular, adaxial deep green, purplish red in fall, lustrous, glabrous.

Panicles

(1–)6(–15+)-flowered.

Inflorescences

corymbs, 1–3-flowered.

Pedicels

15–25 mm, glabrous, stipitate-glandular;

bracts 1 or 2, narrowly lanceolate, 10–30 × 1–2 mm, margins short stipitate-glandular, surfaces glabrous, eglandular.

erect or recurved (as hips mature), slender, 13–25 mm, glabrous, densely long stipitate-glandular;

bracts 1 or 2, lanceolate, 9–18 × 3.5–7 mm, margins entire, rarely serrate, few gland-tipped, apically cleft 2–3.5 mm, surfaces glabrous, eglandular.

Flowers

functionally unisexual or monoecious, plants dioecious, 3–5 cm diam.;

hypanthium ovoid, 4–6 × 4–5 mm, stipitate-glandular;

sepals narrowly to broadly ovate-lanceolate, 10–18 × 2–4 mm, margins entire, tip 3–4 × 0.5–1 mm, abaxial surfaces pubescent, stipitate-glandular;

petals single, rose-purple to pink, fading to white, 18–25 × 16–25 mm;

stamens 212;

carpels 20–25, styles glabrous, exsert 5–6 mm beyond stylar orifice rims (0.5 mm diam.), hypanthial disc 2–3 mm diam.

4–5 cm diam.;

hypanthium globose or subglobose, 3–4 × 3–5 mm, glabrous, densely stipitate-glandular, neck absent;

sepals spreading to reflexed, lanceolate, 14–22 × 2–3 mm, tip 5–10 × 0.5–1 mm, margins entire, abaxial surfaces glabrous, densely stipitate-glandular;

petals single, pink to rose, 19–23 × 20–23 mm;

carpels 20–24, styles exsert 0.5–1 mm beyond stylar orifice (1.5–2 mm diam.) of hypanthial disc (4 mm diam.).

Hips

bright red, subglobose to globose, 6–10 × 6–9 mm, firm, sparsely stipitate-glandular often undeveloped because of dioecy, then early deciduous.

red to dark red, globose to depressed-globose, 8–10 × 7–10 mm, fleshy, glabrous, densely stipitate-glandular, neck absent;

sepals deciduous, erect or spreading to reflexed.

Achenes

17–22, fawn, 4–5 × 2.5–3 mm.

basal, 10–14, tan, darkening with age, 2.6–2.8 × 1.6–1.8 mm.

2n

= 14.

= 14.

Rosa setigera

Rosa nitida

Phenology Flowering May–Aug. Flowering Jul–Aug.
Habitat Prairies, savannas, woodland borders, clearings, open fields, abandoned pastures, waste areas, roadsides, fence rows Wet edges of spruce woods, bogs, swamps, rocky ledges, wet thickets, margins of ponds and streams, shores, rocky and grassy hills and bluffs
Elevation 100–500 m (300–1600 ft) 0–400 m (0–1300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MO; MS; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; ON [Introduced in Europe (Channel Islands)]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CT; MA; ME; NH; NY; RI; VT; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; SPM
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

In the eastern United States Rosa setigera has been introduced from the Midwest or escaped from cultivation (W. H. Lewis 1959b). Based primarily on herbarium records, R. setigera is introduced in Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia; other states (Alabama, Georgia, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia) probably have both native and introduced populations.

Rosa setigera is the only native rose with procumbent or climbing stems to 60 dm with three leaflets on younger stems and five on older stems, and with unisexual flowers and caducous sepals.

Rosa setigera is the only species of sect. Systylae native to North America. The species is distinct from other members of the section in its flavonoid patterns, which show linkages to sect. Cinnamomeae [= sect. Rosa] (C. Grossi et al. 1998); it is also the only dioecious species of the genus. Microscopic floral characters are detailed elsewhere (W. H. Lewis 1959b; P. G. Kevan et al. 1990; J. R. Kemp et al. 1993, 1993b).

Since 1886, Rosa setigera has been used also as one parent in climbing hybrid cultivars produced in central Europe to increase hardiness and vigorous growth.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Rosa nitida is typical of the eastern Canadian Provincial Element (S. P. McLaughlin 2007) and is often found near or intermixed with R. virginiana. Putative hybrids between R. nitida (2x) and both R. palustris (2x) and R. virginiana (4x) are reported from Nova Scotia and New England. Because the armature of both R. palustris and R. virginiana is predominately or exclusively of infrastipular prickles, hybridity might explain the infrequent occurrences of R. nitida with infrastipular prickles. In a sample of 23 sheets of R. nitida having abundant prickles, two possess infrastipular prickles.

The most diagnostic feature of these shrubs with weak, sprawling stems is their distal branches, which are densely covered with mixed red to reddish purple internodal prickles and aciculi with infrastipular prickles relatively few.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 9, p. 83. FNA vol. 9, p. 103.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Roseae > Rosa > subg. Rosa > sect. Systylae Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Roseae > Rosa > subg. Rosa > sect. Rosa
Sibling taxa
R. acicularis, R. arkansana, R. blanda, R. bracteata, R. bridgesii, R. californica, R. canina, R. carolina, R. cinnamomea, R. foliolosa, R. gallica, R. glauca, R. gymnocarpa, R. laevigata, R. lucieae, R. minutifolia, R. mollis, R. multiflora, R. nitida, R. nutkana, R. palustris, R. pinetorum, R. pisocarpa, R. rubiginosa, R. rugosa, R. sherardii, R. spinosissima, R. spithamea, R. stellata, R. tomentosa, R. virginiana, R. woodsii
R. acicularis, R. arkansana, R. blanda, R. bracteata, R. bridgesii, R. californica, R. canina, R. carolina, R. cinnamomea, R. foliolosa, R. gallica, R. glauca, R. gymnocarpa, R. laevigata, R. lucieae, R. minutifolia, R. mollis, R. multiflora, R. nutkana, R. palustris, R. pinetorum, R. pisocarpa, R. rubiginosa, R. rugosa, R. setigera, R. sherardii, R. spinosissima, R. spithamea, R. stellata, R. tomentosa, R. virginiana, R. woodsii
Synonyms R. rubifolia, R. setigera var. elatior, R. setigera var. glabra, R. setigera var. tomentosa
Name authority Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 295. (1803) Willdenow: Enum. Pl., 544. (1809)
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