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

Rosa gymnocarpa Nutt.
baldhip rose (dwarf rose)
Rosaceae (Rose family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Photograph

Map

Distribution of Rosa gymnocarpa
Click here to view the full interactive map and legend

SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC

Rosa gymnocarpa var. gymnocarpa

Species Information

General:
Low to medium shrub, 0.3-1.5 m tall; stems spindly, erect to spreading, usually bristly with numerous soft, straight prickles all about the same size, occasionally unarmed especially on younger stems, which are often stalked-glandular; mature stems greyish-brown.

Leaves:
Alternate, deciduous, odd-pinnately compound, the leaf-stalk and axis somewhat stalked-glandular; leaflets 5, 7 or 9, elliptic, 1-4 cm long, double-toothed with gland-tipped teeth, otherwise smooth; stipules glandular and usually blunt-toothed.

Flowers:
Inflorescence of usually single, occasionally 2 to 3, stalked flowers at the ends of lateral branchlets, the stalks bristly-glandular; corollas pale pink to rose, bowl- to saucer-shaped, small (2-3.5 cm across), the petals 5, 10-15 mm long; calyces 5-lobed, the lobes 5-12 mm long, egg-shaped to triangular tapering to a tail-like sharp tip, smooth or occasionally glandular on the back, deciduous; ovaries superior but enclosed in the urn-shaped floral tube (hypanthium); stamens numerous.

Fruits:
Achenes, few to about 12, smooth except for a few long hairs at the tip, enclosed by the fleshy hypanthium, which ripens into an orange to scarlet, pear-shaped to ellipsoid hip 6-10 mm long, the neck and calyx-lobes deciduous.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Illustration

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

USDA Species Characteristics

Flower Colour:
Purple

Blooming Period:
Late Spring

Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Red
Present from Summer to Fall

Source: The USDA

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Rosa gymnocarpa

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
Site Information	Avg	Min	Max
Elevation (metres)	710	0	1960
Slope Gradient (%)	26	0	235
Aspect (degrees) [0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]	203	0	360
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric]	3	0	7
Modal Nutrient Regime Class	C
# of field plots species was recorded in:	2584
Modal BEC Zone Class	ICH
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in	BG(1), CDF(183), CWH(517), ESSF(17), ICH(1065), IDF(530), MS(79), PP(27), SBS(15), SWB(1)
Source: Klinkenberg 2013

Habitat and Range

Dry to moist open forests, forest edges, thickets and clearings in the lowland and montane zones; common in S BC south of about 53oN; S to CA, MT and ID.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Status Information

Origin Status	Provincial Status	BC List (Red Blue List)	COSEWIC
Native	S5	Yellow	Not Listed

BC Ministry of Environment: BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer.

Taxonomic Keys

KEY TO ROSA

1. Stipules deeply fringed or comb-like; inflorescence multiflowered..........R. multiflora
1. Stipules entire to coarsely toothed; inflorescence single to several-flowered.

1a. Prickles strongly curved, stout; calyx-lobes often with conspicuous lateral segments and usually reflexed after flowering.

2. Lower surface of leaflets stalked-glandular..............R. eglanteria
2. Lower surface of leaves not stalked-glandular (sometimes a few glands along leaf axis or midrib of leaflets)..................R. canina

1a. Prickles not or slightly curved, often slender; calyx-lobes usually without lateral segments, usually ascending or erect after flowering.

3. Calyx-lobes deciduous in fruit, 12 mm long or less; petals 15 mm long or less...............R. gymnocarpa
3. Calyx-lobes persistent in fruit, greater than 12 mm long; petals greater than 15 mm long.

4. Stems with well-defined infrastipular prickles (pair of prickles at or just below each node) or nearly unarmed.

5. Calyx-lobes usually glandular-bristly; leaflets finely toothed; plants from west of the Coast-Cascade Mountains............R. pisocarpa
5. Calyx-lobes usually not glandular-bristly; leaflets coarsely toothed.

6. Flowers small and clustered; calyx-lobes mostly 1-2 cm long and 2-3.5 mm wide at base; petals 1.2-2.5 cm long................R. woodsii
6. Flowers large and usually solitary; calyx-lobes mostly 1.5-4 cm long and 3-6 mm wide at base; petals 2.5-4 cm long.....................R. nutkana

4. Stems more or less bristly with slender prickles; infrastipular prickles, if any, like the others.

7. Flowers mostly solitary, usually on lateral branchlets of current season; leaflets usually 5 to 7 (9); petals more than 2 cm long..................R. acicularis
7. Flowers commonly clustered at ends of main shoots of current season as well as on lateral branchlets; leaflets (7) 9-11; petals less than 2.5 cm long..............R. arkansana

Source: Illustrated Flora of British Columbia (Vol. 4). (1999)