ROSE FAMILY 



SWAMP ROSE. CAROLINA ROSE 



Rosa Carolina. 



Erect, stiff, five to seven feet high with rather distant, stout, 

 commonly recurved spines, often with prickles scattered along 

 the stem; old stems dull purple; common in low wet grounds 

 and borders of streams and swamps. Ranges from Nova Sco- 

 tia to Florida and Mississippi, westward as far as Minnesota. 

 Suckers freely; makes clumps. 



Leaves. Leaflets five to nine, usually seven, varying consid- 

 erably in outline, oval, ovate, ovate-lanceolate or obovate, one 

 to two inches long, wedge-shaped or rounded at base, serrate, 

 acute or obtuse at apex, often pubescent beneath. In autumn 

 they turn dull red of varying tints and shades ; frequently darken 

 in midsummer. Stipules dilated. Petioles often prickly. 



Flowers. June to August. Bright pink, two to two and one- 

 half inches across, borne in corymbose clusters. Calyx-lobes 

 lanceolate, acuminate, often dilated above, hispid-pubescent, 

 spreading; after flowering deciduous; petals obcordate ; styles 

 distinct. 



Fruit. Hip, scarlet, globose or depressed-globose, three- 

 eighths to one-half an inch long, glandular-hispid. Clings all 

 winter and remains in good color until March. 



The Carolina Rose is one of the most abundant of 

 our native roses. At the blossoming time it seems to 

 possess the swamps and waste lowlands. It suckers 

 freely ; the underground stems travel fast and travel 

 far, and no plant is companionless after the first year. 



This is an excellent rose for park lanes and road- 

 sides. It is hardy, and will grow in good soil with 

 only a moderate amount of water, and the flowering 

 season is long. 



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