''Rosa nutkana'', the Nootka rose, bristly rose, or wild rose is a

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

shrub in the rose family (

Rosaceae Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera. The name is derived from the type genus '' Rosa''. The family includes herbs, shrubs, and trees. Most species are deciduous, but som ...

).NPIN: ''Rosa nutkana'' (Nootka rose)
Retrieved 2010-03-27.WTU Herbarium Image Collection
Retrieved 2010-03-27. The species name ''nootka'' comes from the

Nootka Sound Nootka Sound () is a sound of the Pacific Ocean on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, in the Pacific Northwest, historically known as King George's Sound. It separates Vancouver Island and Nootka Island, part of the Canadian province of ...

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

, where the plant was first described. This plant is native to Western

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. There are 2

varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

: ''hispida'' grows in the Intermountain West from east of the Cascades to the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

, and ''nutkana'' grows in coastal areas from Alaska to California west to the Cascades. The Jepson Interchange (Flora of California) considers other varieties to be part of the ''nutkana'' variety.

Description

''Rosa nutkana'' grows to as much as 3 meters, often in thickets. It has light green paired leaflets with toothed edges and sharp prickles at the base. The prickles are straight and paired and generally appear at nodes. The flowers usually occur singly, but may appear in groups of 2 or 3. The flowers, which appear in early summer, can have a pleasantly strong fragrance. The

sepals A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

are very long, longer than the petals, and constricted in the middle. The fruits (

hips In vertebrate anatomy, the hip, or coxaLatin ''coxa'' was used by Celsus in the sense "hip", but by Pliny the Elder in the sense "hip bone" (Diab, p 77) (: ''coxae'') in medical terminology, refers to either an anatomical region or a joint ...

) of Nootka rose are somewhat bitter but edible. It is reported that

bletting Bletting is a process of softening that certain fleshy fruits undergo, beyond ripening. There are some fruits that are either sweeter after some bletting, such as sea buckthorn, or for which most varieties can be eaten raw only after bletting, ...

will greatly mitigate the bitterness and make the hips much more palatable. Only the rind should be eaten as the seeds are irritating. Rosa nutkana with sepals

Ecology

Nootka rose grows in a wide variety of habitats, from sea level to mid elevations. It needs sun but will tolerate some shade, often growing along forest edges. It grows in moist riparian soils and in dry glacial till soils. It grows in

fencerow In agriculture, fences are used to keep animals in or out of an area. They can be made from a wide variety of materials, depending on terrain, location and animals to be confined. Most agricultural fencing averages about high, and in some places ...

hedgerows A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced (3 feet or closer) shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate ...

pastures Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...

, shrubby

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

prairies Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

, and

meadows A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable condition ...

Nootka rose thickets provide habitat and food for birds and small wildlife. Deer browse the flowers, young stems, and hips. They are used in wetland mitigation buffers and in native plant landscaping. ''R. nutkana'' hosts gall-making wasps of the family

Cynipidae Gall wasps, also wikt:gallfly#Usage notes, traditionally called gallflies, are hymenopterans of the family Cynipidae in the wasp superfamily Cynipoidea. Their common name comes from the galls they induce on plants for larval development. About 1 ...

, genus '' Diplolepis''. Two such species are '' D. polita'', which makes bristly round red or green

galls Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to benign tumors or wart ...

on leaves, and '' D. rosae'', the mossy rose gall, which makes large, mossy, feathery, greenish or yellowish growths on stems.

Uses

''Rosa nutkana'' is used medicinally by a great number of

indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

to treat a wide variety of ailments, and also ceremonially, in handcrafts, and as a food source. The branches or leaves were used to make a tea or poultice to treat sores and eye problems. As with all wild rose species, the hips are edible and sometimes used to make jams and jellies. Nootka rose serves as the larval host of the

mourning cloak ''Nymphalis antiopa'', known as the mourning cloak in North America and the Camberwell beauty in Britain, is a large butterfly native to Eurasia and North America. The immature form of this species is sometimes known as the spiny elm caterpillar. ...

and grey hairstreak butterflies. Nootka rose can be propagated from seed, although germination is spotty. Hardwood cuttings and root suckers can also be used. There are several ornamental rose

cultivars A cultivar is a kind of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and which retains those traits when propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue cult ...

of ''R. nutkana'', including 'Cantab' (Hurst 1939), 'Mander's Nutkana #1' (1983), 'Moore's Nutkana', and 'Schoener's Nutkana' (1930).

References

External links

USDA PLANTS Profile: ''Rosa nutkana'' (Nootka rose)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3106488 nutkana Flora of British Columbia Flora of the West Coast of the United States Flora of the Western United States Flora of California Flora of Idaho Flora of Oregon Garden plants of North America Bird food plants Butterfly food plants Medicinal plants Flora of Northern America Flora without expected TNC conservation status