Swamp Rose

As the common name suggests, Rosa palustris or swamp rose can be found in tidal freshwater marshes, swamps, nontidal marshes, margins of lakes, and forested wetlands. The swamp rose can be found west of the Great Lakes region, east of the Rocky Mountains, and south of the Gulf of Mexico (Joly & Bruneau, 2006: 625; Silberhorn, 1995: 1). Rosa palustris is an obligate wetland plant with a 99% probability that this plant will be found in a wetland of some sort (Silberhorn, 1995: 1). For that reason, Rosa palustris is predictor of quality wetlands in Ohio (Stapanian et. al, 2013: 291).

Rosa palustris is a shrub with hooked or recurved thorns on the stem and the flowers have five pink to red petals. The flowers are found in pairs (Lafleur, Rubega, & Elphick, 2007: 431). The plant produces achenes that can weight 327 mg with seeds 53 mg (Lafleur, Rubega, & Elphick, 2007: 431; Silberhorn, 1995: 1).

Rosa palustris Marsh. Arbust. 135. 1785
Rosa Carolina L. Sp. PI. ed. 2. 703. 1762. Not R. Carolina L. 1753.
Rosa corymbosa Ehrh. Beitr. 4: 21. 1789.
Rosa fragrans Salisb. Prodr. 358. 1796.
Rosa pennsylvanica Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1: 296. 1803.
Rosa caroliniana Bigel. Fl. Bost. 121. 1814.
Rosa enneaphylla Raf. Prec. Dec. 35. 1814.
Rosa hudsoniana Thory; Redoute, Ros. 1: 95. 1817.
? Rosa glandidosa Raf. Ann. Gen. Sci. Phys. 5: 214. 1820.
Rosa elegans Raf. Ann. Gen. Sci. Phys. 5: 214. 1820. Not R. elegans Salisb. 1799.
Rosa salicifolia Redoute, Roses 3: 121. 1823.
? Rosa Sprengeliana Tratt. Ros. Monog. 2: 163. 1823.
Rosa elongala Roessig; Steud. Nom. Bot. ed. 2. 2: 468. 1841.
Rosa hispidocarpa Chabert; Cariot, Etude Fl. Bot. ed. 4. 2: 677. 1865. Rosa Carolina sepalorelevata Schuette, Proc. Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci. 46: 279. 1898. Rosa Carolina aculeata Schuette, Proc. Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci. 46: 279. 1898.
Stems usually tall, 0.3-2 m. high, erect, sometimes reddish, glabrous, terete, armed with strong but rather short, more or less curved prickles, which are usually paired, flattened at the base, 4-6 mm. long; floral branches 1-3 dm. long, glabrous, prickly or unarmed; stipules adnate, 2-3 cm. long, usually narrow, only the upper somewhat dilated, somewhat enrolled, usually pubescent beneath, somewhat glandular-denticulate or naked on the margins, the free portion lanceolate or subulate, usually somewhat spreading; petioles and rachis pubescent, rarely prickly, not glandular or rarely slightly so; free portion of the petioles above the stipules very short, 3-8 mm. long; leaflets 7, rarely 9, dull and dark-green, glabrous or nearly so above, paler and more or less finely appressed-puberulent beneath, at least on the veins, short-petiolate, lance-elliptic or oblanceolate, on vigorous shoots sometimes elliptic, usually acute at both ends, 2-6 cm. long, finely and closely serrulate, with simple non-glandular teeth; flowers usually corymbose, sometimes solitary, leafy-bracted; pedicels short, 1-2 (rarely 3) cm. long, usually glandular-hispid; hypanthium subglobose or somewhat depressed, glandular-hispid, usually acute at the base, in fruit 10-12 mm. broad; sepals narrowly lanceolate, caudate-attenuate, 2-2.5 cm. long, sometimes with foliaceous tips, glandular-hispid on the back, tomentose within and on the margins, reflexed or spreading after anthesis, soon deciduous; petals obcordate, rose-colored, 1.5-2 cm. long; styles distinct, numerous, not exserted, persistent; achenes attached mainly in the bottom of the hypanthium.
Type locality: Not given, but by inference Pennsylvania.
Distribution: Nova Scotia to Minnesota, Mississippi, and Florida.

Rosa floridana Rydb.; Small, Shrubs Fla. 27. 133. 1913
Rosa foliolosa T. & G. Fl. N. Am. 1 : 460, in small part. 1840.
Stem low, 1 m. high or less, with spreading branches, reddish, glabrous, terete, armed with short curved prickles, which are somewhat flattened at the base, 3-5 mm. long; floral branches spreading, flexuose; stipules adnate, about 1 cm. long, narrow, glabrous or nearly so, usually entire; free portion short, lanceolate, ascending; petioles and rachis glabrous or slightly pubescent, unarmed; leaflets 5, dull and dark-green and glabrous above, somewhat paler and usually wholly glabrous beneath, 1-4 cm. long, acute at each end, finely and closely serrulate, with simple, non-glandular teeth; flowers usually solitary, rarely in pairs; pedicels 1-2 cm. long, usually glandular; hypanthium globose or somewhat depressed, glandular-hispid, in fruit 8-9 mm. thick; sepals linear-lanceolate, caudate-attenuate, 2-2.5 cm. long, glandularhispid on the back, tomentose on the margins, reflexed after anthesis and soon deciduous; petals obcordate, 1.5-2 cm. long, rose-colored; styles distinct, numerous, not exserted, persistent; achenes mainly attached in the bottom of the hypanthium.
Type locality: Near Jacksonville, Florida. Distribution: North Carolina to Florida.

Rosa lancifolia Small, Fl. SE. U. S. 527, 1331. 1903
Stems branching, 1-2 m. high, terete, gray, armed with stout, straight prickles, which are 5-10 mm. long and only slightly flattened; floral branches 1-2 dm. long, usually unarmed; stipules adnate, 1-2 cm. long, narrow, mostly entire, glabrous; free portion lanceolate; leaflets 3-7, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, 2-6 cm. long, acute, subcoriaceous, finely crenate-serrulate, glabrous, somewhat shining above, sessile; petioles and rachis sparingly strigose; flowers corymbose; pedicels short, rarely over 1 cm. long, glabrous or sparingly glandular; hypanthium somewhat glandular-hispid, globose, in fruit 8-10 mm. thick; sepals narrowly lanceolate, caudateattenuate, about 2 cm. long, often with a few subulate lateral lobes, glandular-hispid on the back; petals about 12 mm. long, emarginate; achenes inserted in the bottom of the hypanthium.
Type locality: Exact locality not given, but the type was collected in the vicinity of Eustis, Lake County, Florida.
Distribution: Florida.

Rosa palustris, the swamp rose, is a shrub in the rose family native to much of eastern North America. It can be found from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in the north, south to Florida and west to Arkansas and Ontario. It is a host of the blinded sphinx moth and Coptotriche admirabilis.