WOODS™ ROSE - Plant

1 WOODS ROSERosa woodsii symbol = ROWOC ontributed By: USDA, NRCS, National Plant DataCenter & the Biota of North America ProgramAlternate common namesCommon wild rose, wild rose, mountain roseUsesFruits of Woods rose are a good source of energyand protein and are eaten by many animals, includingsquirrels, deer, coyotes, and bears. Many birds andmammals are sustained by the persistent dry hipswhen the ground is covered with snow. The plantsare browsed by livestock and big game from springthrough fall, but the young spring leaves areespecially palatable. Porcupines and beavers alsobrowse the leaves. Thickets formed by Woods roseprovide nesting and escape cover for many birds andsmall rhizome system makes Woods rose effective inerosion control, and the species has been used torevegetate disturbed sites along road cuts,streambanks, and seeps.

2 Plants are used asornamentals near homes to attract birds and Americans used the roots, stems, leaves,flowers, and fruits of Woods rose for foods andtherapeutic materials. The hips are a source ofvitamin C and are dried for use in flavoring teas,jellies, fruitcakes, and puddings. The inner bark androots were boiled to treat diarrhea and stomachaliments and a tea was made from the bark to consult the PLANTS Web site and your StateDepartment of Natural Resources for this Plant scurrent status, such as, state noxious status andwetland indicator family (Rosaceae). Native subshrubs or shrubsgrowing (-3) m high, rhizomatous, with shallow,frequently branching fibrous roots, sometimesforming nearly impenetrable thickets; stems reddish-brown to gray, with straight or slightly curvedprickles. Leaves are deciduous, alternate, odd-pinnately compound, leaflets 5-7(-11), obovate toovate or elliptic, ca.

3 (-4) cm long, finely toothedtoward the tip. Flowers occur on branches lateralfrom the old wood, 10-20 cm long, few in a cluster atthe stem tip, less commonly solitary; petals 5, (10-)15-25 mm long, pink to lilac-pink, or lavender;sepals lanceolate, 1-2 cm long, erect and usuallypersistent, tomentose on the margins and innersurface. Fruit is a fleshy, red, globose to ellipsoid hip 5-12 mm wide, derived from the base of thesepals and petals; nutlets 15-35, 3-4 mm for Joseph Woods, 1776-1864, an earlyEnglish student of within the species: many variants have beendescribed, and the species now includes many rosespreviously described as species. The followingvarieties are sometimes now recognized (Cronquist &Holmgren 1997) but they are combined as a singlevariable species by others ( , Ertter 1993 in TheJepson Manual). rosa woodsii var.

4 Glabrata (Parish) Cole CARosa woodsii var. gratissima (Greene) Cole CAand NVRosa woodsii var. ultramontana (S. Wats.) JepsonRosa woodsii var. woodsiiWoods rose forms natural hybrids with R. acicularisLindl., R. arkansana Porter, R. blanda Ait., andprobably rose is recognized among many similarspecies of rose by its combination of shrubby, thicket-forming habit, stems with straight prickles, and leavesand sepals without glands. J. Scott PetersonUSDA, NRCS, NPDC@ PLANTSD istributionWidely distributed over western North America, fromOntario and Manitoba, Wisconsin, Minnesota, andIowa, south to Texas and northern Mexico, west toCalifornia and Alaska through every other westernstate and province. Var. woodsii (see below) occursin Alaska and Yukon but no other provinces or statesbordering the Pacific; var. ultamontana is the far-western entity, sometimes regarded as including (California endemic) and var.

5 Gratissima(California and Nevada). For current distribution,please consult the Plant Profile page for this specieson the PLANTS Web rose is commonly a dominant species onriparian and wetland sites, but it is adapted to a broadrange of moisture conditions. It is common in variousregions as a pioneer on disturbed sites, especiallyalong roadsides and south-facing cutbanks. It occurson bluffs, dry grassy slopes, prairie sandhills, and inclearings in boreal and subalpine forests or sometimesas an understory species in stands dominated bycottonwood, ponderosa pine, and Douglas shade-tolerance allows it to persist as anunderstory species in mid-seral to climaxcommunities; at elevations of 800-3500 June-August; fruiting August and into thefall, the hips remaining on the Plant through rose produces flowers and fruits at about 2-5years of age.

6 Good crops are usually produced every2 years. Birds and mammals eat the fruits anddisperse the seeds in droppings. The seeds remainviable for 2-5 years, and after warm or coldstratification, they germinate within 30 to 40 rose also reproduces through rhizomes, rootcrown sprouts, and layering. Establishment forornament or rehabilitation is from transplants,hardwood cuttings, and direct of low- to moderate-severity typically top-killsWoods rose, but sprouts from root crowns andrhizomes enable it to persist or even increase. Theshallow root crowns are injured by severe fire andpopulations consequently may decrease in vitality andabundance. Reproduction from seed is rarelyobserved after fire, and seedling growth rate in aburned area may be , Improved and Selected Materials (andarea of origin)Please check the Vendor Database, expected to beon-line through the PLANTS Web site in 2001 byclicking on Plant Materials.

7 These Plant materials arereadily available from commercial , , Plummer, McArthur [andothers] 1975. Characteristics and hybridization ofimportant Intermountain shrubs. I. Rose Pap. INT-169. USDA, Forest Service,Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station,Ogden, , A. and Holmgren 1997. rosa . , IN: Intermountain flora. Vol. 3, Part Rosidae (except Fabales). New York , Bronx, New , 1992. rosa woodsii . IN: Fischer(compiler). The fire effects information system [Database]. USDA, Forest Service, IntermountainResearch Station, Intermountain Fire SciencesLaboratory. Missoula, Montana.< >Prepared ByGuy NesomBONAP, North Carolina Botanical Garden,University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NorthCarolinaSpecies CoordinatorLincoln MooreUSDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center, BatonRouge, LouisianaEdited 20sep00 jspFor more information about this and other plants, please contactyour local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit thePLANTS < > and Plant Materials ProgramWeb sites < >.

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