Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

PRAIRIE WILD ROSE

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Rosa arkansana Porter

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Shrub

Height: 1-3 feet

Family: Rosaceae - Rose Family

Flowering Period: May, June, July

Also Called:

Arkansas rose.

Stems:

Erect, 1 to several, branched, reddish, bearing slender, unequal prickles.

Leaves:

Alternate, stalked, odd-pinnately compound; leaflets 7-11, egg-shaped to elliptic, .5 to 2.5 inches long, .5 to 1.25 inches wide, dark green and nearly glabrous above, paler and pubescent below; margins toothed on upper 2/3; tips blunt or pointed; stipules conspicuous, pubescent or glabrous.

Inflorescences:

Corymb-like, generally 3- or more flowered, occasionally solitary, terminal.

Flowers:

Sepals 5, .5 to 1.25 inches long, persistent, erect or spreading in fruit; corollas 1.5 to 2.5 inches wide, pink to deep rose; petals 5, .5 to 1.25 inches long; tips broadly notched; stamens numerous, yellow.

Fruits:

Achenes, 15-30, egg-shaped, hairy on 1 side, enclosed in fleshy, globe-shaped, red structure about 1/2 inch in diameter called a rose hip.

Habitat:

Prairies, open woodlands, bluffs, roadsides, and thickets.

Distribution:

Throughout Kansas.

Uses:

Rose hips contain high levels of vitamin C and can be eaten raw, stewed, candied, or made into jelly. Many Plains Indian tribes used the hips as an emergency food source.

Comments:

Prairie wild rose is resistant to drought due to roots that can go down more than 20 feet.

Prairie wild rose