Rosa nutkana

Rosa nutkana
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Rosaceae
Genus:	Rosa
Species:	R. nutkana
Binomial name
Rosa nutkana C. Presl
Varieties[1][2]
Rosa nutkana C. Presl var. hispida Fernald Rosa nutkana C. Presl var. nutkana Rosa nutkana C. Presl var. muriculata (Greene) G.N. Jones Rosa nutkana C. Presl var. setosa G.N. Jones

Rosa nutkana (Nootka Rose, Bristly rose, Wild rose) is a 2–10 foot (60 cm-3m) tall perennial shrub in the Rose family (Rosaceae).^[3][4][5]

The species name nootka comes from the Nootka Sound of Vancouver Island, where the plant was first described.^[6] This plant is native to Western North America.^[5] There are 2 varieties: hispida grows in the Intermountain West, from east of the Cascades to the Rocky Mountains, and nutkana grows in coastal areas from Alaska to California, east to the Cascades. The Jepson Interchange (Flora of California) considers other varieties to be part of the nutkana variety.^{[4] [7] [8]}

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 2-3 inch pink (5–8 cm) 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 are very long, longer than the petals, and are constricted in the middle. The fruits (hips) of Nootka rose are somewhat bitter but edible. It is reported that freezing and thawing will greatly mitigate the bitterness and make the hips much more palatable. Only the rind should be eaten as the seeds are irritating.^[9]

Nootka rose showing diagnostic 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 fencerows, hedgerows, pastures, shrubby wetlands, woodlands, prairies, and meadows.^[9][10]

Nootka rose thickets provide habitat and food for birds and small wildlife. Deer browse the flowers, young stems, and hips.^[10] They are used in wetland mitigation buffers and in native plant landscaping.^[11]

R. nutkana hosts gall-making wasps of the family Cynipidae, genus Diplolepis, in the insect class Hymenoptera. Two species are D. polita, which makes bristly round red or green galls on leaves, and D. rosae, the mossy rose gall, which makes large, mossy, feathery, greenish or yellowish growths on stems.^[12]

Mossy Rose Gall

Uses

Rosa nutkana was used medicinally by a great number of Indigenous Peoples to treat a wide variety of ailments, and also ceremonially, in handcrafts, and as a food source.^[13]

Nootka rose serves as the larval host of the Mourning Cloak and Grey Hairstreak butterflies.^[3]

Nootka rose can be propagated from seed, although germination is spotty.^[11] Hardwood cuttings and root suckers can also be used.

There are at least three ornamental cultivars of R. nutkana: Mander's Nutkana #1, Moore's Nutkana, and Schoener's Nutkana.^[14]

References

1. ^ Rosa nutkana information from NPGS/GRIN Retrieved 2010-03-27.
2. ^ ITIS Standard Report Page: Rosa nutkana Retrieved 2010-03-27
3. ^ ^{a b} NPIN: Rosa nutkana (Nootka rose) Retrieved 2010-03-27.
4. ^ ^{a b} WTU Herbarium Image Collection Retrieved 2010-03-27.
5. ^ ^{a b} Stewart, Charles (1994-05). Wildflowers of the Olympics and Cascades. Sequim, Washington: Nature Education Enterprises. p. 77. ISBN 0-9621104-2-6. 
6. ^ Gerteis, Joan (2006-08-17). "Our Wild Nootka Rose". WSU Extension - Island County. http://www.beachwatchers.wsu.edu/island/essays/NootkaRose.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-27. 
7. ^ USDA. "PLANTS Database". http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=RONU. Retrieved 24 February 2011. 
8. ^ Jepson. "A Flora of California". http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_cpn.pl?RONU. Retrieved 24 February 2011. 
9. ^ ^{a b} Pojar and MacKinnon (1994). Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Vancouver, British Columbia: Lone Pine Publishing. ISBN 1-55105-040-4. 
10. ^ ^{a b} Cooke, Sarah Spear (1997). Field Guide to the Common Wetland Plants of Western Washington and Northwestern Oregon. Seattle, Washington: Seattle Audubon Society. ISBN 0-914516-11-6. 
11. ^ ^{a b} Leigh, Michael (1999). Grow Your Own Native Landscape. Thurston County, WA: WSU Cooperative Extension. 
12. ^ Haggard, Peter and Judy (2006). Insects of the Pacific Northwest. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. ISBN 10-0-88192-689-2. 
13. ^ Species account from Native American Ethnobotany (University of Michigan - Dearborn) Retrieved 2010-03-2007.
14. ^ HelpMeFind. "Nootka Rose". http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/plants.php?searchNmTyp=5&searchNm=nutkana&rid=2594&sbSearch=SEARCH&tab=1. Retrieved 24 February 2011. 

External links

• USDA PLANTS Profile: Rosa nutkana (Nootka rose)