I am a big geek
So I was having a conversation about Nootka roses earlier this week. And it resulted in an email follow up where I was talking about the plant that went something like this:
Sorry if this is overkill - I'm a botanist, and I get a little carried away talking about plants.
Nootka rose (Rosa nutkana) is a species of edges. It grows on the borders between forests and grasslands, on the edge of beaches and on rocky outcrops (often over those rocky beaches) - really, just about anywhere it can get enough sun (though it will grow in some shade and up into the mountains as well)! It will fill in habitats that are less tolerable to other plants and is reasonably salt-tolerant. I'm thinking specifically of the coastal variety, Rosa nutkana var. nutkana.
This is a large, spreading shrub with noticeable thorns (it is also called Bristly rose). It has compound leaves made up of 5 - 9 leaflets with toothed edges that are arranged opposite each other with one leaflet at the tip (an arrangement called pinnately compound). There is a pair of large prickles at the base of each leaf (each set of leaflets). Like most plants in the rose family, these compound leaves are arranged alternately on the stem.
Unlike some wild roses that have large clusters of flowers, the flowers on this rose mostly appear singly, occasionally in clusters of 2 - 3. They range from dark to light pink - the dark pink flowers are lighter in the center, with yellow anthers, and fade with age (often from the outside of the petals toward the middle, so the outside becomes lighter before the middle of the petal). Flowers are 2" - 3" across with broad petals that overlap slightly and long, thin sepals (the green parts under the flower) that are characteristic.
This perennial shrub is deciduous (drops its leaves in the winter) - it has a fantastic rusty/red fall color that appears in the stems while the leaves are still green. The rose hips are bright red, shading slightly to orange near the tips where the flower was.
How about some pictures?
Flowers:
http://plants.usda.gov/gallery/pubs/ronu_004_php.jpg
http://islandnature.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/nootka_rose.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_usuCTzh_blI/S_m9j8aKrwI/AAAAAAAAA0o/r5oiy5KHCLI/s1600/P1010017.JPG
Fruit (rose hips):
http://www.bentler.us/eastern-washington/plants/shrubs/rose-hips.jpg
Sepals:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rosa_nutkana_with_sepals.JPG
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5255/5482063921_06d2a4bf88_z.jpg
Form:
http://beachwatchers.wsu.edu/island/essays/NootkaRose.htm
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1303/4691210497_52ab84dfb1.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3169/2708807278_c64c0f476b.jpg?v=0
A couple of sites with several good pictures, including pictures of the fall color:
http://www.wnps.org/landscaping/herbarium/pages/rosa-nutkana.html (click on the thumbnails to see the full pictures - you can see the red stems very nicely on one of these)
http://www.nwplants.com/business/catalog/ros_nut.html
My strongest mental of this plant is on those rocky sandstone outcrops out on the San Juan islands, usually growing on very thin, dry soil near Madrone trees:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/68/223438311_fd49c8b176.jpg
ttp://www.americasmusicfestivals.org/wp-content/uploads/sucia-island-ewing-cove-view-orcas-island-mt-constitution.jpg
I'm pretty sure the other party in the conversation is going to think that I'm a crazy person when they read this. And they are going to be really sorry they asked.
For the record? This is a Nootka rose:
Sorry if this is overkill - I'm a botanist, and I get a little carried away talking about plants.
Nootka rose (Rosa nutkana) is a species of edges. It grows on the borders between forests and grasslands, on the edge of beaches and on rocky outcrops (often over those rocky beaches) - really, just about anywhere it can get enough sun (though it will grow in some shade and up into the mountains as well)! It will fill in habitats that are less tolerable to other plants and is reasonably salt-tolerant. I'm thinking specifically of the coastal variety, Rosa nutkana var. nutkana.
This is a large, spreading shrub with noticeable thorns (it is also called Bristly rose). It has compound leaves made up of 5 - 9 leaflets with toothed edges that are arranged opposite each other with one leaflet at the tip (an arrangement called pinnately compound). There is a pair of large prickles at the base of each leaf (each set of leaflets). Like most plants in the rose family, these compound leaves are arranged alternately on the stem.
Unlike some wild roses that have large clusters of flowers, the flowers on this rose mostly appear singly, occasionally in clusters of 2 - 3. They range from dark to light pink - the dark pink flowers are lighter in the center, with yellow anthers, and fade with age (often from the outside of the petals toward the middle, so the outside becomes lighter before the middle of the petal). Flowers are 2" - 3" across with broad petals that overlap slightly and long, thin sepals (the green parts under the flower) that are characteristic.
This perennial shrub is deciduous (drops its leaves in the winter) - it has a fantastic rusty/red fall color that appears in the stems while the leaves are still green. The rose hips are bright red, shading slightly to orange near the tips where the flower was.
How about some pictures?
Flowers:
http://plants.usda.gov/gallery/pubs/ronu_004_php.jpg
http://islandnature.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/nootka_rose.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_usuCTzh_blI/S_m9j8aKrwI/AAAAAAAAA0o/r5oiy5KHCLI/s1600/P1010017.JPG
Fruit (rose hips):
http://www.bentler.us/eastern-washington/plants/shrubs/rose-hips.jpg
Sepals:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rosa_nutkana_with_sepals.JPG
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5255/5482063921_06d2a4bf88_z.jpg
Form:
http://beachwatchers.wsu.edu/island/essays/NootkaRose.htm
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1303/4691210497_52ab84dfb1.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3169/2708807278_c64c0f476b.jpg?v=0
A couple of sites with several good pictures, including pictures of the fall color:
http://www.wnps.org/landscaping/herbarium/pages/rosa-nutkana.html (click on the thumbnails to see the full pictures - you can see the red stems very nicely on one of these)
http://www.nwplants.com/business/catalog/ros_nut.html
My strongest mental of this plant is on those rocky sandstone outcrops out on the San Juan islands, usually growing on very thin, dry soil near Madrone trees:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/68/223438311_fd49c8b176.jpg
ttp://www.americasmusicfestivals.org/wp-content/uploads/sucia-island-ewing-cove-view-orcas-island-mt-constitution.jpg
I'm pretty sure the other party in the conversation is going to think that I'm a crazy person when they read this. And they are going to be really sorry they asked.
For the record? This is a Nootka rose: