Plant Name
Scientific Name: Rosa woodsii
Common Names: Woods' Rose, Wood's Rose, Common Wild Rose, Western Wild Rose, Mountain Rose
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Perennial, Deciduous
Growth Habit: Subshrub
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Mountain. This rose grows in sunny clearings on forested hillsides, in meadows, in drainage areas, and along mountain streams and lakes. This one was photographed growing next to the aptly named Rose Canyon Lake in the Santa Catalina Mountains.
Flower Color: Pink
Flowering Season: Late spring (May), Summer
Height: Up to 3 to 6 feet (1 to 2 m) tall
Description: The showy flowers are up to 2 inches (5 cm) wide and have 5 pink petals, 5 narrowly triangular, light green sepals, and yellow stamens. The flowers are followed by rounded, non-spiny, red fruits known as rose hips. The leaves are alternate and pinnately divided into 5 to 9 green, oval to elliptical leaflets that are toothed near their tip. The stems have distinctive straight thorns and are branched and red-brown to gray in color. The plants are shrubby and thicket-forming.
This is the only Rosa species found in southeastern Arizona. Fendler Rose (Rosa fendleri) is now considered to be a variety of Woods' Rose and is known as Rosa woodsii var. woodsii, while Arizona Rose (Rosa arizonica) is now known as Rosa woodsii var. ultramontana.
Special Characteristics
Culturally Significant Plant – Native Americans used the flower petals, fruit, seeds, leaves, stems, and roots for food and medicinal purposes.
Edible – All parts of the plant are edible except for the highly irritating hairs around the seeds, however the petals and fruit are most often used. The ripe rose hips are tart, flavorful, and a good source of vitamin C. The flower petals can be added to salads, but the bitter, white base of the petals should be removed first. Tea can be made with the dried fruit, bark, young stems, or leaves.
Fragrant – The flowers are fragrant.
Stinging or Itching – The hairs around the seeds can cause itching and irritation if ingested.
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Rosidae
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae – Rose family
Genus: Rosa L. – rose
Species: Rosa woodsii Lindl. – Woods' rose
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