I have found this species only in Tipton County in Indian Prairie in moist soil along the railroad about a half mile west of Goldsmith. Chas. M. Ek has found it in several places along railroads in Howard County. This rare form [of Rosa arkansana = R. suffulata var.relicta)] has been found in Indiana only in Tipton County in the Indian Prairie area along the railroad a short distance west of Goldsmith. "It resembles a weak R. suffulta; it is semi-herbaceous, the two year old wood being often semi-procumbent. It differs from R. suffulta in the narrow stipules, small fruit with reflexed and semi-deciduous sepals, in which characteristics it resembles R. carolina L." "R. relicta begins to flower earlier than R. suffulta, just after R. blanda and continues to flower through the summer." Like the next species [Rosa rudiuscula], it may have originated by natural hybridization.
Colonial, only half-shrubby; stems under 1 m, usually densely prickly; prickles slender, straight, unequal, the infrastipular and internodal ones essentially alike; stipules pubescent, usually entire, or glandular-dentate toward the tip; lfls (7)9 or 11, 1-4 cm, firm, obovate or obovate-oblong, sharply serrate, very often pubescent beneath; fls corymbose, terminating the nearly herbaceous stems of the season and often also on short lateral branches from older stems; hypanthium and pedicel usually glabrous or nearly so; sep persistent, often becoming erect and connivent; pet pink (white) to deep rose, 1.5-3 cm; hips purplish or red, 10-15 mm thick; 2n=28. Prairies and plains, or in open or brushy sites eastward; N.Y. to Alta., s. to D.C., Ind., Mo., Tex., and Colo. (R. conjuncta; R. pratincola; R. suffulta)
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
©The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Colony-forming shrub to 1 m tall
Stem: densely covered in slender, straight, unequal prickles.
Leaves: pinnately compound, hairy-stalked, main axis (rachis) hairy, usually with nine leaflets. The leaflets are 1 - 6 cm long, inversely egg-shaped to elliptic or obong with a pointed tip, toothed, firm, hairy beneath, and hairless and shiny above.
Flowers: arranged in nearly flat-topped clusters (corymbose) at the end of current season's stems and short lateral branches of older stems, about 4 cm across, with a nearly hairless stalk and floral tube (hypanthium), 1 - 1.5 cm long persistent sepals that are usually erect and come together in fruit, and pink to deep rose petals 1.5 - 3 cm long.
Fruit: bony achenes surrounded by the mature floral tube (hip). The hip is purplish or red, 10 - 15 mm across, and nearly spherical with a beak of sepals. Achenes 5 - 5.5 mm long, elliptic, plump.
Stipules: subtending leaves, enlarged, non-toothed to sometimes glandular-toothed near tip, hairy.
Similar species: Rosa acicularis, Rosa arkansana var. suffulta, Rosa blanda, and Rosa cinnamomea have hairless flower stalks and floral tubes and erect, persistent sepals. Rosa acicularis is distinguished by its five to seven leaflets and stems that are prickly throughout. R. blanda has five to seven leaflets and smooth upper internodes and current year's lateral branches. Rosa cinnamomea differs by its coarse, stout, recurved prickles subtending the stipules.
Flowering: mid June to mid July
Habitat and ecology: Wasteland along roadsides and railroads.
Occurence in the Chicago region: native
Etymology: Rosa is the Latin name for a rose. Arkansana is named after the Arkansas River. Suffulta means "propped up," referring to the extra reduced leaflets between the stipular lobes of the original material.
Author: The Morton Arboretum
