Rosa rugosa (Rugosa Rose)

Plant Info
Also known as: Beach Rose, Japanese Rose
Genus:Rosa
Family:Rosaceae (Rose)
Life cycle:perennial woody
Origin:Asia
Habitat:sun; disturbed soil; roadsides, shores, dunes, fields, gardens
Bloom season:June - July
Plant height:3 to 6 feet
Wetland Indicator Status:GP: none MW: FACU NCNE: FACU
MN county distribution (click map to enlarge):Minnesota county distribution map
National distribution (click map to enlarge):National distribution map

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Detailed Information

Flower: Flower shape: 5-petals Flower shape: 7+petals

[photo of flower] One to 4 flowers at the tips of new lateral branches of older woody stems. Flowers are white to deep pink, 2½ to 4¾ inches (6 to 12 cm) across with 5 broad, rounded petals with somewhat wavy edges; cultivars with double flowers are not uncommon. Numerous yellow stamens surround the shorter styles in the center. The sepals are narrowly lance to egg-shaped, ¾ to 1½ inches (20 to 37 mm) long, covered in a mix of glandular and non-glandular hairs and sometimes scattered prickles. Flower stalks are stout, hairy, erect and up to ~½ inch (10 to 15 mm) long at flowering time.

Leaves and stems: Leaf attachment: alternate Leaf type: compound

[photo of leaves] Leaves are alternate and compound with 5 to 9 leaflets. Leaflets are ¾ to ~2 inches (2 to 5.5 cm) long, 3/8 to ~1¼ inch (1 to 3.5 cm) wide, generally elliptic, rounded to pointed at the tip. Edges are serrated with rounded teeth. Surfaces are very veiny, the upper surface dark green and hairless, the lower gray-green and hairy. Leaf stalks are hairy with scattered prickles and usually a few glandular hairs.

[photo of prickles and stipules] At the base of the stalk is a pair of leaf-like appendages (stipules), ¾ to 1+ inch (2 to 3 cm) long, toothless to irregularly toothed, veiny, hairy, usually with a few glandular hairs. New twigs are light green, hairy, and covered in straight prickles of varying lengths with stout prickles paired around the nodes. Older bark is gray to purplish black. Colonies can form from creeping rhizomes.

Fruit: Fruit type: berry/drupe

[photo of developing fruit] Flower stalks elongate and often become arching as fruit develops. The berry-like fruits (rose hips) are up to ~1 inch (2 to 3 cm) diameter, bright red and globular at maturity though often depressed, with the long sepals persisting at the tip. Inside the hips are up to 40 light brown seeds.

Notes:

Rugosa Rose is an Asian species introduced as an ornamental and has been known to escape cultivation. Its native habitat is coastal, sandy soils and has become quite invasive in dunes and coastal grasslands in Europe. Sadly, it found an ideal home on Minnesota Point where we saw it had consumed a large swath of beach back in 2013. A return visit is in store to see if it has progressed further or been reined in.

Rugosa Rose is distinct from our native roses. The flowers tend to be larger, often deeper red-pink or purple-pink, and cultivars with double flowers or lighter pink to white are not uncommon. Leaves are very veiny, the upper surface dark green with a distinct network of impressed veins, the texture much like leather, and edges have rounded teeth where the natives are more sharply toothed and veins more inconspicuous. Fruit tends to be larger than our native roses as well, and is commonly depressed, reminding me of a curling stone, the long sepals persisting at the tip.

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More photos

Photos by K. Chayka taken in Cook County. Photos by Peter M. Dziuk taken in Cook and St. Louis counties.

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