E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Rosa acicularis subsp. sayi Lindl. (Schwein.) W.H. Lewis
prickly rose
Rosaceae (Rose family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Allan Carson  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #16217)

E-Flora BC Static Map
Distribution of Rosa acicularis subsp. sayi
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Species Information

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General:
Low to medium shrub, 0.3 to 1.5 m tall, spreading by extensive rhizomes, sometimes forming thickets; stems spindly to stout, erect to arching, usually covered with numerous straight, bristly prickles of various sizes, but twigs of the year often not prickly; mature stems reddish- to greyish-brown.
Leaves:
Alternate, deciduous, odd-pinnately compound, the axis usually hairy and glandular; leaflets usually 5 or 7, oblong-elliptic, 2-5 cm long, coarsely double-toothed, the teeth often gland-tipped, more or less rounded at the base, usually somewhat hairy on the underside; stipules hairy, glandular on the margins.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of usually single, occasionally 2 or 3, stalked flowers on lateral branchlets; corollas pink, saucer-shaped, (4) 5-7 cm across, the petals 5, 2-3 cm long; calyces smooth, 5-lobed, the lobes lanceolate, long-tapering and narrowing then flaring below the tip, persistent, becoming erect and converging in fruit; ovaries superior but enclosed in the urn-shaped floral tube (hypanthium); stamens numerous.
Fruits:
Achenes, 15 to 25, stiffly long-hairy on one side or towards the tip, enclosed by the fleshy hypanthium, which ripens into a scarlet to purplish, globe- to pear-shaped or ellipsoid hip 1-2 cm long.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Dry to moist open forests, thickets, open rocky or grassy slopes, river terraces, streambanks and clearings in the lowland to subalpine zones; common throughout BC, east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; circumboreal, N to AK, E to PQ and S to NY, MN, CO and NM; Eurasia.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Rosa acicularis ssp. sayi

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)

Site Information
Value / Class

Minimum

Average

Maximum

Elevation (metres) 1323 1327 1331
Slope Gradient (%) 31 45 60
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]
103 137 173
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
2 2 2
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
B
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:
2
Modal BEC Zone Class
SWB
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: SWB(2)

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Rosa acicularis var. bourgeauiana (Crép.) Crép.
Rosa acicularis var. sayana Erlanson
Rosa bourgeauiana Crép.
Rosa collaris Rydb.
Rosa engelmannii S. Watson
Rosa sayi Schwein.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References