Wild Flowers East of the Rockies 163 



SWAMP ROSE (Rosa Carolina). Wild roses are 

 very common throughout our range and, of course, 

 are familiar to everyone. They are usually, and right- 

 ly regarded as one of our most beautiful wild flow- 

 ers. They have a purity of form and color that is 

 rarely seen in the many varieties that man has cul- 

 tivated from them. The Swamp Rose is a very bushy 

 species, growing from one to nine feet high. It is 

 very common on the edges of swamps or streams, 

 and in low ground, throughout our range. The com- 

 pound leaf is made up of five to nine, lance-shaped, 

 toothed leaflets; each leaf has a pair of stipules, or 

 tiny leaves, at the junction of the slender stem with 

 main stalk. 



The flowers are two or three inches broad and have 

 numerous yellow stamens radiating from the green- 

 ish-white center. The stem of the Swamp Rose is 

 sparingly armed with stout, wide-based, curved 

 thorns. 



PASTURE ROSE (Rosa humilis) is the most abun- 

 dant of all our w r ild roses and grows in profusion in 

 all dry, rocky places. It does not grow as high as the 

 Swamp Rose, rarely exceeding three feet in height, 

 but the slender stems are more branching and often 

 grow in large, tangled masses that, in the height of 

 the blooming season, are exceedingly beautiful. The 

 flowers are about the same size as those of the 

 Swamp Rose, but are usually solitary at the ends of 

 the branches. 



The leaves are dark green, without gloss, divided 

 into five or seven ovate, sharply-pointed, irregular- 

 ly-toothed leaflets. The stem is armed with straight, 

 slender, light brown thorns or prickles, two of which 

 are set oppositely on the stem at its junctions with 

 the leaf stems. These sharp thorns often discourage 

 plucking wild roses, and the petals soon fall or are 

 broken off, so that they are little used for vases. 



