Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

SWEETBRIER

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Rosa rubiginosa L.

Clay County, Kansas

Height: 3-10 feet

Family: Rosaceae- Rose Family

Flowering Period: May, June, July

Also Called:

Eglantine rose.

Trunks:

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.

Habitat:

Streambanks, pastures, roadsides, bluff ledges and bases

Distribution:

Rare; Riley, Jackson, and Clay counties

Origin:

Introduced

Uses:

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

Comments:

The resinous glands on the under surface of the leaves have an apple-like fragrance when crushed.

Sweetbrier flower