APPEARANCE
These plants are prickly! Be careful not to get too close. They have spikes at the bottom of each leaf, which can easily hook themselves into your clothes. The flowers are bright pink, which look very different from roses you can buy in a flower shop. This rose flower has five large heart shaped petals that develop into dark red hard berries in the fall.
RANGE & HABITAT
These roses are found throughout southern B.C. and continue far south to northern Mexico as well as east to the great lakes region. These wild rose plants are found on mid to low elevation open slopes in the dry southern interior rocky slopes.
LIFE CYCLE
When the earth warms up after the long cold winter the rose buds develop and bloom in June and July. At the end of their blooming period the flower, now pollinated, develops into a dark hard berry which is called a ‘hip’.
ANIMAL USES
Even though they are prickly, some animals munch on rose plants.
TRADITIONAL USES BY INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
The hips of the Wood’s Rose can be used as an emergency food source. It can be used for teas using the petals, leaves and inner bark. The tea is used to treat influenza, diarrhea and cold symptoms
OTHER USES
People make a tea out of the hips, which is very rich in vitamin C.
STATUS
COSEWIC: Not at Risk
CDC: Yellow
MORE INFORMATION
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
More Southern Interior Mountains species
