LOW ROSE 



LOW ROSE. PASTURE ROSE. DWARF WILD ROSE 



Rosa /liimilis. 



Erect, bushy, six inches to three feet high ; stems usually 

 armed with sharp, slender, straight spines just below the stipules, 

 and also more or less prickly. Found in dry or rocky soil from 

 Maine and Ontario to Wisconsin, Georgia, Kansas, and Louisi- 

 ana. Suckers freely. 



Leaves. — Leaflets five, seven, one-half to one inch long, rather 

 thin, ovate, oval or obovate, rounded or pointed at base, coarse- 

 ly serrate, acute at apex, short-stalked or sessile, glabrous or 

 pubescent beneath ; not shining above. Autumnal tints red and 

 orange, brilliant. Stipules narrow, entire. Petioles, pedicels 

 and calyx usually glandular. 



Flowers. — May to July. Solitary, or two to three together, 

 fragrant, two to two and a half inches across, pink ; pedicels 

 and calyx usually glandular. Calyx-lobes lanceolate, acuminate 

 or dilated at apex, usually lobed, spreading and deciduous : 

 petals obovate or obcordate ; styles distinct. 



Fruit. — Hip, red, globose or depressed-globose, about one- 

 third of an inch long, glandular-hispid, without the calyx-lobes. 

 Clings to the branch throughout the winter. 



In the middle west this little bush frequently be- 

 comes an undershrub and is often found almost entirely 

 shaded. The flowering season is long- ; for it blooms 

 very deliberately and has, moreover, the pleasant habit 

 of putting forth a few stray blossoms in early autumn. 

 The stem is not very strongly armed, the spines are 

 few, but sharp as needles, and go straight to their aim. 

 This rose is well adapted for coast planting ; loves the 

 cool moist air of the sea ; is perfectly hardy and able 

 to withstand the rigor of winter. 



173 



