Rosa blanda Aiton

  • Authority

    Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

  • Family

    Rosaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Rosa blanda Aiton

  • Description

    Species Description - Colonial; stems to 1.5 or 2 m, unarmed or with few to many slender prickles toward the base, these not extending onto the flowering branches; stipules entire to glandular-dentate; lfls mostly 5 or 7, narrowly elliptic-oblong to oval or obovate, to 5 cm, coarsely toothed, especially above the middle; fls solitary or corymbose on lateral branches from stems of the previous year; pedicels and hypanthium glabrous; sep persistent, usually erect and connivent after anthesis; pet pink, 2–3 cm; hips red, 8–15 mm thick; 2n=14. Dry woods, hills, prairies, and dunes; Que. to Man., s. to N.Y., Pa., Ind., and Mo. (R. subblanda) The stipules, rachis, and lower lf-surface are usually softly hairy or tomentulose. A striking form found along the shores of the Great Lakes, with glabrous stipules and rachis, and small, firm, glabrous lfls, may be worthy of varietal recognition. R. johannensis Fernald, occurring from Que. to Me. and n. N.Y., may represent another var., or possibly it may reflect hybridization with another sp. The lvs are glabrous or nearly so, and the persistent sep are reflexed.

  • Common Names

    smooth rose