Flora of New Zealand Series

rugosa rose

Deciduous, erect or suberect, densely suckering and thicket-forming shrub to 2 m high; stems stout and rigid, densely tomentose; armature of large, straight, narrow and slightly flattened prickles or pricklets. Lvs with (2)-3-4 pairs of leaflets; petioles 20-50 mm long, densely tomentose; stipules adnate for most of length, very broad and ± leafy, tomentose, denticulate. Lamina of leaflets 20-50 × 8-30 mm, elliptic or broadly elliptic, rugose, shining, rather dark green and with scattered eglandular hairs above, ± tomentose and with numerous very short glandular hairs beneath; margins serrate or crenate, slightly recurved; base ± rounded; apex obtuse or subacute. Fls 1-4, single (often semi-double or double in cultivation), c. 40-80 mm diam. Pedicels moderately hairy to tomentose, with ± scattered, rigid, straight, glandular hairs. Sepals persistent, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, long-acuminate or spathulate towards apex, tomentose inside, tomentose and with scattered stiff glandular hairs outside; outer sepals entire or with a few small teeth near apex. Petals 35-50 mm long, broadly obovate, deep rosy crimson. Styles free, shortly exserted and forming a large head, hairy. Fr. 20-25 mm across, ± depressed-globose, glabrous, shining deep red.

N.: Mangahoe (near Hunterville); S.: Balclutha (Otago).

Korea, Japan, E. China 1958

Near to old settlements, waste ground and in scrub in a gully.

FL Nov-Feb FT Mar-May.

R. rugosa is still fairly common in cultivation and has been more widely planted recently with the increased interest in old roses. Several cvs are grown; these differ in fl. colour (white, pink, rose or crimson-purple), size of fls and in the number of petals. As far as is known, all specimens of wild plants had large, single, rose-coloured, rather stiffly erect fls. Frs are freely produced in single-flowered plants and are larger than those of any other sp. or hybrid wild in N.Z. (Fig. 101). However, its main natural spread is by the copiously produced suckers. The tomentose and prickly shoots distinguish it from the other roses described here but occur in some other spp. of sect. Cassiorhodon.