Filtered (4)
Prairie rose flowers arise from upper stems, either as single flowers or as groups (corymbs) of 2-4. Individual flowers are 1.5-2" across with five green, lance-shaped sepals half the length of the petals, five pink petals, a ring of numerous (~120) yellow stamens, and a button-like, flattened yellowish central cluster (the stylar disc) of short styles. The fruit is a round, 1/2" diameter rose hip, bright red when mature, with the withered remains of the five long sepals at its tip. Prairie rose prefers coarse, dry soils or sand. Prairie rose is most similar to pasture rose (Rosa carolina) but has hairless flower stalks rather than the glandular-hairy stalks of pasture rose, most flowers occur in groups of 2-4, and its leaves tend to have more leaflets (typically 9; pasture rose has 5-7).

Rosa

Rosa arkansana

prairie rose [Blooms: May-Jul]

Pasture rose flowers are usually solitary, ~2" across on pedicels covered with glandular hairs, with five bold pink (rarely white) petals, five green, pointed sepals covered with glandular hairs, ~100 bright yellow stamens, and a small yellow or yellow-orange stylar disk composed of ~40 pistils and their stigmas. The fruits are typical rose hips about 5/8" across, bright red when ripe; the glandular hairs on the pedicel and sepals persist but the sepals are deciduous and quickly fall off. The flowers are similar to purple-flowered raspberry (Rubus odoratus) but the leaves are completely different (odd-pinnate vs. palmate).

Rosa

Rosa carolina

pasture rose [Blooms: Jun-?]

Swamp rose flowers arise from the upper stems as single flowers or corymbs of 2-4 flowers. The flowers are 1.5-3" across, with five green, lance-shaped sepals, five pale- or rosy-pink, oval or heart-shaped petals, a ring of about two hundred yellow stamens, and a flat central disc of 24-50 styles that is pink or orange-red (much less often, yellow). The sepals and pedicels are covered with glandular hairs. The fruits are typical rose hips but are quite small (3/8" across, pea-sized), bright red when ripe.

Rosa

Rosa palustris

swamp rose [Blooms: May-Jun]

Climbing wild rose flowers are 2.5-3" across with five green sepals five times longer than wide (reflexed, then shed soon after the flowers open); five pale fuchsia to pink petals, usually with a shallow terminal notch; a ring of about 200 golden stamens; and a tall, yellow stylar column with a terminal knob in the center of the flower. (The only other local species with a stylar column is multiflora rose, Rosa multiflora.) The fruits are typical rose hips, bright red when mature, less than 1/2" wide, with no trace of the sepals.

Rosa

Rosa setigera

climbing wild rose [Blooms: Jun -Jul]