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Virginia Rose, Rosa virginiana Mill
Rosaceae

Height: An erect shrub usually 1-2 m high.

Twigs: New stems usually have scattered, often paired, strong, stout and straight or recurved prickles. Older canes nay have scattered prickles.

Leaves: Alternate, pinnately compound, having 5-11 leaflets. Each leaflet is elliptical or oval, gradually rounded at the base, 2.5-6 cm long and coarsely sharp-toothed on the upper three-fourths of the margin. Both surfaces are smooth, the uppersurface being shiny and dark green, the undersurface lighter and often with a few hairs on the midvein.

Flowers: Deep pink and fragrant, 4-6 cm across, 5-petaled, and have numerous yellow anthers. They occur singly or mostly in few-flowered clusters. The calyx and flower stalk may have scattered gland-tipped hairs. Blooms in August.

Fruit: Scarlet “hips” consisting of a fleshy receptacle that surrounds numerous hard dry achenes. They ripen by late September.

Habitat: This species is found in wet and dry habitats. It is more common in wet thickets, clearings swamps, and along shores. There are no records for the Great Northern Peninsula and it is not found in Labrador.

Source: Native Trees and Shrubs
of Newfoundland and Labrador
By A. Glen Ryan

Used with permission from
Parks and Natural Areas Division
Department of Environment and Conservation
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador 1995