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Plant Database

Search for native plants by scientific name, common name or family. If you are not sure what you are looking for, try the Combination Search or our Recommended Species lists.

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Rosa arkansana var. suffulta (Prairie rose)
Bettinger, Edith

Rosa arkansana var. suffulta

Rosa arkansana Porter var. suffulta (Greene) Cockerell

Prairie Rose, Sunshine Rose

Rosaceae (Rose Family)

Synonym(s): Rosa alcea, Rosa conjuncta, Rosa pratincola, Rosa suffulta, Rosa suffulta var. relicta

USDA Symbol: ROARS

USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)

One of the most common and variable wild roses. Usually a 6-36 in., erect, spreading prickly branched shrub with pinnately compound leaves turning maroon in fall. Large, pink, five-petaled flowers are followed by red hips.

This wild rose is often less woody than other Rosa species, dying back annually to near the ground.

 

From the Image Gallery

1 photo(s) available in the Image Gallery

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Shrub
Leaf Retention: Deciduous
Fruit Type: Achene
Size Notes: Up to about 5 feet tall, often shorter.
Fruit: Hip (mature floral tube) surrounding achenes.

Bloom Information

Bloom Color: Pink
Bloom Time: May , Jun , Jul

Distribution

USA: AR , CO , DC , IA , IL , IN , KS , MA , MI , MN , MO , MT , ND , NE , NM , NY , OH , OK , SD , TX , WI , WY
Native Distribution: IN to Alt., s. to AR, TX & NM; also NY
Native Habitat: Prairies; bluffs; open woods; thickets; roadsides

Growing Conditions

Light Requirement: Part Shade
Soil Description: Variable.
Conditions Comments: Susceptible to fungal problems.

Value to Beneficial Insects

Special Value to Native Bees
Special Value to Bumble Bees
Provides Nesting Materials/Structure for Native Bees

This information was provided by the Pollinator Program at The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.

Propagation

Description: Propagated by stem cuttings or division of rootstock. Softwood cuttings should be taken with a heel and treated with hormone. Rose seeds should be taken from the hips as soon as ripe and planted in the open or stratified before planting.
Seed Collection: Hips can be collected as soon as they are ripe. Achenes can then be extracted by macerating the hips in water and recovering the seeds by flotation.
Seed Treatment: Cold-moist stratification is required to break the dormancy of most rose species.
Commercially Avail: yes

Web Reference

Webref 38 - Flora of North America (2019) Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
Webref 23 - Southwest Environmental Information Network (2009) SEINet - Arizona Chapter

Additional resources

USDA: Find Rosa arkansana var. suffulta in USDA Plants
FNA: Find Rosa arkansana var. suffulta in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Rosa arkansana var. suffulta

Metadata

Record Modified: 2023-02-24
Research By: TWC Staff

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