Sweetbrier

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Sweetbrier flower

Sweetbrier

Sweetbrier leaf

Sweetbrier prickles

Sweetbrier flower

Sweetbrier sepal

Sweetbrier flower

Sweetbrier leaf

Sweetbrier fruit

Sweetbrier prickles

Morphology

Trunk

Erect to arching, slender; prickles scattered, .25 to .4 inch long, .12 to .3 inch wide, stout, curved, base broadened; flowering branches sometimes with slender, bristle-like prickles.

Leaves

Alternate, odd-pinnately compound; petiole and rachis sparsely pubescent and with small prickles; stipules conspicuous, leaf-like, .25 to .4 inch, margins finely glandular-hairy; leaflets 5 or 7, nearly circular to ovate, .4 to .86 inch long, .3 to .6 inch wide, base broadly angled to rounded, tip blunt or pointed, margins irregularly toothed, upper surface green to dark green, glabrous, lower surface often finely pubescent with rust-colored resin glands.

Flowers

Usually solitary flowers, terminal on current year's growth or on lateral branches of second year stems. Sepals 5, .55 to .7 inch long, .08 to .12 inch wide, slightly unequal, margins entire or with a few long, slender lobes, persistent in fruit; petals 5, pink, obovate, .4 to .8 inch, tip notched; pistils 25-45, styles free, hairy, extending slightly beyond hypanthium mouth; stamens numerous, in several whorls; filaments free; anthers yellow.

Fruit

Hips, red, ellipsoid, .4 to 1 inch long, .4 to .8 inch wide, fleshy to leathery, glabrous or with short stiff hairs near base; achenes 15-25, tan or pale brown, .14 to .2 inch.

Ecology

Habitat

Streambanks, pastures, roadsides, bluff ledges and bases

Distribution

Rare; Riley, Jackson, and Clay counties

Practical Information

Uses

Rose hip oil has been extracted from this species and used in some skin care products.

Additional Notes