Weed Information: Rosa rubiginosa (rose, sweetbriar)
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Rosa rubiginosa (rose, sweetbriar)

Family: Rosaceae

Description

Introduced shrubs with stout recurved spines, the lower leaf surface (and elsewhere) covered with sweet smelling glandular hairs.

Characteristics

Flower Color
  • Red (or pink)
Inflorescence Type (How the flowers are arranged on the plant)
  • Axillary cluster
  • Cyme (simple or branched)
  • Solitary, axillary
Number of Petals
  • 5 petals
Petal Separation
  • Completely free to base
  • United from 25% - 75% length
Petal Tip
  • Bilobed
  • Rounded
  • Square
Flower Symmetry
  • Flowers regular
Flower Length (Head length in the Asteraceae)
  • 1.0 cm (.40 inch)
  • 1.5 cm (.6 inch)
Flower Width (Head width in the Asteraceae)
  • 3.5 cm (1.4 inches)
  • 4.0 cm (1.6 inches)
  • 4.5 cm (1.8 inches)
  • 5.0 cm (2.0 inches)
Number of Sepals
  • 5 sepals
Sepal Separation
  • Completely free to base
  • United from 25% - 75% length
Sepal Tip
  • Pointed
Flower Sex
  • Bisexual (perfect)
Number of Styles
  • More than 10 styles
Number of Stamens
  • more than 10 stamens
Stamens Attached to the Petals
  • Stamens NOT attached to the petals
Stamens Connate (united)
  • Filaments or anthers NOT united

Carpel Separation
  • Carpels united (or one)
Number of Carpels
  • 1 carpel
  • >10 carpels
Ovary Position
  • Halfway (perigynous)
  • Inferior (epigynous)
Fruit Type
  • Berry, red
Fruit Length at Maturity
  • 1.0 cm (.40 inch)
  • 1.5 cm (.60 inch)
Fruit Width at Maturity
  • 1.0 cm (.40 inch)
  • 1.5 cm (.60 inch)
Burs
  • Fruit or seed NOT bur-like

Leaf Arrangement
  • Alternate
Leaf Type
  • Compound odd pinnate < 8 leaflets
Stipules
  • Foliaceous 4-10 mm (.16 - .40 in) long
  • Foliaceous > 1 cm (> .40 inch) long
Tendrils
  • Tendrils absent
Venation
  • Pinnate
Petiole (leaf stem) Blade Ratio
  • Petiole < 25% total length
Leaf Length (blade PLUS petiole)
  • 4 - 10 cm (1.60 - 4.0 inches)
Leaf Width
  • 2 - 4 cm (.80 - 1.6 inches)
  • 4 - 10 cm (1.6 - 4.0 inches)
Leaf or Leaflet Margin
  • Dentate
  • Serrate
  • Serrate, doubly
Leaf or Leaflet Blade Base
  • Acute (cuneate)
Leaf or Leaflet Tip
  • Rounded (obtuse)
  • Truncate
Leaf or Leaflet Blade Surface
  • Glabrous (NO hairs)
  • Glandular
Succulence
  • Not succulent

Milky Juice
  • Juice NOT milky (watery)
Woodiness
  • Woody
Spines or Thorns
  • Spines on leaves or stems
Aromatic (vegetative structures)
  • Aromatic
Life Cycle
  • Perennial
Growth Habit (while flowering)
  • Erect, spherical (bushy)
Plant Height at Maturity
  • 1 - 1.5 meters (3.3 - 5.0 feet)
  • 1.5 - 2.0 meters (5.0 - 6.6 feet)
Wind Dissemination
  • Not wind disseminated
Moisture Regime
  • Mesic
  • Arid
Chlorophyll
  • Present

Stem Cross Section
  • Round
Flowering Stem Leaves
  • Stem uniformly leafy
Main Stem Branches
  • Main stem branched

Root or Vegetative Propagule
  • Fibrous
  • Tap Root

US State
  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Georgia
  • Illinois
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Massachusetts
  • Maine
  • Michigan
  • Missouri
  • Mississippi
  • North Carolina
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • Ohio
  • Pennsylvania
  • South Carolina
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • West Virginia
  • Indiana
  • Maryland
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Iowa
  • Idaho
  • Minnesota
  • Montana
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Utah
  • Washington
  • Wyoming
  • Nebraska
Canadian Province or Territory
  • British Columbia
  • New Brunswick
  • Nova Scotia
  • Ontario
  • Prince Edward Island
  • Quebec
  • Newfoundland
Other
  • District of Columbia

  • Gilkey`s Weeds of the Pacific Northwest, 1980 (ISBN 0-88246-039-0) See page: 154
  • How to Know the Weeds, 1972, (ISBN# 0-697-04880-2) See page: 85
  • Manual of Ohio Weeds, 1931 Ohio Ag. Exp. Station Bull. # 475, See page: 63
  • Weeds, 1955 (1980) Walter Conrad Muenscher, ISBN# 0-8014-1266-8 See page: 266. 273
  • Weeds of California and other Western States, 2007 (ISBN 13: 978-1-879906-69-3) See Page: 1421
  • Listed as a `Weed` by the Biota of North America Program, 2008 x
  • Listed in the WSSA Composite List of Weeds X
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