Rosa woodsii – Woods' Rose

View photographs and a description of the plant Rosa woodsii, commonly known as Woods' Rose, Wood's Rose, Common Wild Rose, Western Wild Rose, or Mountain Rose (flower)

View photographs and a description of the plant Rosa woodsii, commonly known as Woods' Rose, Wood's Rose, Common Wild Rose, Western Wild Rose, or Mountain Rose

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

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map