Rosa acicularis

Rosa acicularis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Rosaceae
Genus:	Rosa
Species:	R. acicularis
Binomial name
	Rosa acicularis; Lindl.
Subspecies
	R. a. ssp. acicularis ; ; R. a. ssp. a. var. nipponensis (Crép.) Koehne; R. a. ssp. sayi (Schwein.) W.H.Lewis;
Synonyms
	Rosa baicalensis Turcz. ex Besser; Rosa carelica Fr.; Rosa gmelinii Bunge; Rosa nipponensis Crép.;

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Rosa acicularis, also known as the prickly wild rose, the prickly rose, the bristly rose and the Arctic rose, is a species of wild rose with a Holarctic distribution in northern regions of Asia^[2], Europe^[3], and North America.

[edit] Description

Rosa acicularis is a deciduous shrub growing 1–3 m tall. The leaves are pinnate, 7–14 cm long, with three to seven leaflets. The leaflets are ovate, with wavy margins. The flowers are pink (rarely white), 3.5–5 cm diameter; the hips are red, pear-shaped to ovoid, 10–15 mm diameter.

The ploidy of this species is variable. Authorities list it as tetraploid,^{[citation needed]} hexaploid in North America (subsp. sayi),^[4] and octoploid in Eurasia (subsp. acicularis).^[4] On the northern Great Plains its populations are generally tetraploid.^{[citation needed]}

North America

This native species of the U.S. and Canadian northern Great Plains is the provincial flower of Alberta^[5]. It is not as common in the Parkland region of the Canadian Prairie provinces as Rosa woodsii (Woods' rose), but is the most abundant rose in the boreal forests of northern Canada and Alaska.

Larger stems are usually densely covered with straight prickles.
Young flowers are darker in colour.
The fruit can be elongate as shown here, or almost round.
Since 1987 Rosa acicularis has been pictured on licence plates in the Canadian province of Alberta.