Annual early spring burning in quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides)
parklands of east-central Alberta caused a significant (p<0.05) decrease in
prairie rose cover, but no significant changes in frequency and density. The
study area was a mosaic of quaking aspen and plains rough fescue-shortbristle
needle-and-thread (Festuca altaica ssp. hallii-Hesperostipa curtiseta) grasslands
that were burned every April for at least 24 years prior to the study. Fires
were conducted to
control woody vegetation. In July and August 1976, prairie
rose cover was 0.6% on burned sites and 1.3% on unburned sites [3].
From October 1979 to April 1980 approximately 961 acres (389 ha) of interior
ponderosa pine-grasslands were
burned in the southern Black Hills of South Dakota; these fires had little effect on
prairie rose. Researchers pooled the findings of prairie rose and Wood's rose (Rosa
woodsii) before and after the prescribed fires. Immediately following the
fires (2-8 months) and in postfire year 1 (14-20 months), mean maximum rose height decreased.
Immediately following the fire the number of rose stems remained the same,
but decreased slightly during postfire year 1 [15,16].
In western North Dakota, prairie rose was less frequent on burned than
unburned sites 3 months to 4 years after prescribed fire [51]. Prairie rose was
present on 2 burn sites: Dedication Hill and North Rim. The fire on Dedication Hill occurred on 14
August 1954 and covered 3.2 acres (1.3 ha). Prairie
rose stands on Dedication Hill occur on soils composed of loamy fine sands, have an
exposure of 15° west of north, and a slope of 10°. The fire on North Rim
occurred on 29 May 1958 and covered 2.5 acres (1 ha). The stands of prairie rose
on North Rim occur on fine sandy loams, have an exposure of 25° south of west,
and a slope of 10°. Dedication Hill and North Rim are both upland sites that
have been grazed lightly in the past and had been fire-free for at least 20 years prior to the study. Vegetation sampling
occurred in mid-August 1958, when prairie rose had completed growth
for the year and was curing. The following table reflects the
relative frequency of prairie rose [41]:
This description provides characteristics that may be relevant to fire ecology, and is not meant for identification. Keys for identification are available (e.g. [18,56,58,63,85,115,132]).
Prairie rose is a long-lived shrub [33,62,81,121,122]. Plants generally die back each year to near the base due to drought or freezing [18,58,63,132,136]. Prairie rose grows to a height of 1.5 to 8 feet (0.5-2.5 m) [62,121,122]. The stems are flexible, erect, 4 to 20 inches (10-50 cm) long [18,58,63], and densely covered with thorns 4 to 8 mm thick and usually 1 to 3.5 mm long. Thorns can be as long as 8 mm [115,121,122]. Prairie rose leaves are alternate [56,58,115,121,122,132], 3 to 4 inches (8-10 cm) long, and have 5 to 11 leaflets [39,42,43,44,56,58,63,115].
The inflorescence of prairie rose is usually 5- or more-flowered [136], but may be solitary [58,115,121,122]. Prairie rose flowers are 5-petaled, 0.6 to 1 inch (1.5-2.5 cm) long and approximately the same width [58,63,115]. Prairie rose hips occur in clusters of 2 to 3 [115] and are 10 to 15 mm thick [56]. The fruits of prairie rose are achenes contained within the rose hip [42,43,44,121,122]. Achenes are 3 to 5.5 mm long [18,58,115], 2.8 to 3.5 mm wide [115], and weigh approximately 0.012 to 0.019 g [116,117].
Prairie rose roots grow deep in the soil and are very stout [58]. On the mixed-grass prairie of west-central Kansas, prairie rose roots reach depths of 10 to 12 feet (3-3.7 m), terminating only when they hit shale [1]. In the sandhills of Nebraska, prairie rose roots to a depth of 8 to12 feet (2.4-3.7 m) [125].
Prairie rose occurs from New Mexico north to British Columbia, east to Ontario, and south to the District of Columbia and Texas [18,42,43,44,56,58,74,91,115,133,136].
Sunshine rose is widespread, occurring across the species's distribution [18,42,43,44,56,58,74,91,115,133,136]. Arkansas rose occurs from New Mexico north to Wyoming and North Dakota, east to Michigan, and south to Indiana and Texas [73,74,85]. Plants Database provides a distributional map of prairie rose and its intrataxa, sunshine and Arkansas roses.
Fire adaptations: Prairie rose establishes after fire by seed [42,43,44,58,121,122] and/or sprouting from the root crown [51,62].
FIRE REGIMES: Many diverse communities provide prairie rose habitat. Prairie rose experiences extreme ranges in fire frequency. In interior ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa var. scopulorum) and oak (Quercus spp.) savanna communities, fire may occur as often as often as every 2 years [95,134]. Conversely, prairie rose occurs in curlleaf mountain-mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius) communities where the fire return interval can be as great as 1,000 years [9,109]. A brief fire description of locales where prairie rose is most common is provided below.
Nebraska Sandhills: Prairie rose is an important species within Nebraska sandhills xeric communities [139]. There is little recorded history on the frequency of fire in presettlement times in the sandhills, but fires were likely common, occurring every 1 to 10 years [95,112]. Since the 1900s, lightning-caused fires are well reported and occur often, yet are quickly suppressed [20]. Fire played a beneficial role in preserving the tallgrass prairies of the Nebraska sandhills. Fire exclusion has led to an increase in nonnative species including Kentucky bluegrass and smooth brome (Bromus inermis) [112].
Northern Great Plains: Historically fire has played an important role in the northern Great Plains. The large tracts of continuous mixed-grass prairie, which occur in hot, dry areas and accumulate much fine fuel, are susceptible to frequent lightning fires. In journal entries from 1814, Merriweather Lewis mentioned observing fires 12 times while crossing the northern Great Plains [78]. For yearly ignitions in the Dakotas, Higgins [67] estimated that 6 lightning fires historically consumed 4,000 miles² (10,000 km²) of grasslands in eastern North Dakota. In western North Dakota, he estimated that 25 lightning fires consumed 4,000 miles² (10,000 km²) of grasslands in a year. Early records kept by explorers, trappers, and settlers noted a high occurrence of fires, both natural and anthropogenic, with fires occurring at intervals of 5 to 10 years [40,95,108,111,142]. Fire has been excluded since the early 1900s, allowing nonnative species such as Japanese brome (Bromus japonicus), smooth brome (B. inermis), Kentucky bluegrass, crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum), and Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) to take a strong hold in the area [40].
The following table provides fire return intervals for plant communities and ecosystems where prairie rose is important. Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under "Find FIRE REGIMES".
Community or ecosystem Dominant species Fire return interval range (years) silver maple-American elm Acer saccharinum-Ulmus americana <5 to 200 [134] bluestem prairie Andropogon gerardii var. gerardii-Schizachyrium scoparium 79,95] Nebraska sandhills prairie Andropogon gerardii var. paucipilus-Schizachyrium scoparium 95] silver sagebrush steppe Artemisia cana 5-45 [66,99,142] sagebrush steppe Artemisia tridentata/Pseudoroegneria spicata 20-70 [95] basin big sagebrush Artemisia tridentata var. tridentata 12-43 [106] mountain big sagebrush Artemisia tridentata var. vaseyana 15-40 [7,26,90] Wyoming big sagebrush Artemisia tridentata var. wyomingensis 10-70 ( x=40) [131,144] saltbush-greasewood Atriplex confertifolia-Sarcobatus vermiculatus 95,145] birch Betula spp. 80-230 [123] desert grasslands Bouteloua eriopoda and/or Pleuraphis mutica 10 to <100 [87,95] plains grasslands Bouteloua spp. 95,142] blue grama-needle-and-thread grass-western wheatgrass Bouteloua gracilis-Hesperostipa comata-Pascopyrum smithii 95,104,142] blue grama-buffalo grass Bouteloua gracilis-Buchloe dactyloides 95,142] grama-galleta steppe Bouteloua gracilis-Pleuraphis jamesii <35 to <100 blue grama-tobosa prairie Bouteloua gracilis-Pleuraphis mutica 95] curlleaf mountain-mahogany* Cercocarpus ledifolius 13-1,000 [9,109] mountain-mahogany-Gambel oak scrub Cercocarpus ledifolius-Quercus gambelii <35 to <100 [95] black ash Fraxinus nigra 134] green ash Fraxinus pennsylvanica <35 to >300 [47,134] juniper-oak savanna Juniperus ashei-Quercus virginiana <35 Rocky Mountain juniper Juniperus scopulorum <35 [95] cedar glades Juniperus virginiana 3-22 [60,95] wheatgrass plains grasslands Pascopyrum smithii <5-47+ [95,99,142] pinyon-juniper Pinus-Juniperus spp. <35 [95] Colorado pinyon Pinus edulis 10-400+ [52,57,75,95] interior ponderosa pine* Pinus ponderosa var. scopulorum 2-30 [5,10,82] galleta-threeawn shrubsteppe Pleuraphis jamesii-Aristida purpurea <35 to <100 eastern cottonwood Populus deltoides <35 to 200 [95] quaking aspen-paper birch Populus tremuloides-Betula papyrifera 35-200 [46,134] quaking aspen (west of the Great Plains) Populus tremuloides 7-120 [5,59,88] Texas savanna Prosopis glandulosa var. glandulosa <10 [95] Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir* Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca 25-100 [5,7,8] oak-juniper woodland (Southwest) Quercus-Juniperus spp. <35 to <200 [95] white oak-black oak-northern red oak Quercus alba-Q. velutina-Q. rubra <35 bur oak Quercus macrocarpa <10 [134] oak savanna Quercus macrocarpa/Andropogon gerardii-Schizachyrium scoparium 2-14 [95,134] shinnery Quercus mohriana <35 [95] northern red oak Quercus rubra 10 to <35 black oak Quercus velutina <35 live oak Quercus virginiana 10 to<100 [134] little bluestem-grama prairie Schizachyrium scoparium-Bouteloua spp. <35 [95] *fire return interval varies widely; trends in variation are noted in the species reviewPrairie rose is found growing on plains and hills [18,42,43,44,56,63,85,115,136], "waste places" [18], fields [18,133], prairies [56,58,115,132], open banks [115], loess hills [115], bluffs [115], thickets [56,58,115,132], roadsides [58,115,133], railroad banks [115,133], and the margin of woods and open woodlands [56,58,115].
Climate: Prairie rose is most commonly found growing under a continental climate regime with hot summers, cold winters, strong winds, and low humidity [1,22,33].
Prairie rose is exceptionally resistant to drought. During the "Great Drought of 1934" across the Great Plains, prairie rose plants in eastern Nebraska produced an "unusually" large crop of fruit and showed no wilting during the greatest periods of stress (20 June to 5 August) [135]. Drought once again swept the Great Plains in 1936 and caused no reduction in prairie rose in eastern Nebraska. During the drought of 1936 prairie rose density averaged 40 stems/m² near Lincoln, Nebraska, and remained constant when normal precipitation returned during the 1937 growing season [103].
Elevation: Elevational ranges for prairie rose are presented below:
State Elevation Colorado 3,500 to 9,000 feet [35,63] Kansas 2,000 to 2,200 feet [1] Montana 1,400 to 4,400 feet [22,25] Nebraska 2,500 to 4,500 feet [126] New Mexico 3,500 to 9,000 feet [132] South Dakota 2,500 to 7,200 feet [16,64,68] Texas 3,500 to 8,500 feet [132]Soil: Prairie rose tolerates a wide range of soils, except those that are very wet or acidic. It favors soil pH values from 5.6 to 7.0 [62]. Prairie rose is generally found on dry, fine-textured, silty, clay loam soils [1,115]. In the Nebraska sandhills [54] and the northern Great Plains [31], prairie rose grows on coarse-textured sandy soils.
Detailed soil analyses of areas where prairie rose occurs in the Cedar Creek Natural History Area, Minnesota [83], Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota [120], and in the Badlands of southeastern Montana [25] are available.
Browse value of prairie rose is fair for livestock [12,92].
Insects: On grasslands near Boulder, Colorado, 3 species of grasshoppers were fed prairie rose in a trial study. The grasshoppers had little affinity for prairie rose, consuming between 10% and 15% of the plant material given them [30].
Small mammals: In Kansas, prairie rose is 1 of the species most heavily utilized by eastern cottontails in winter on little bluestem-dominated sites [38]. Prairie rose is utilized by jackrabbits and cottontail rabbits on the mixed-grass prairies of the Great Plains [24,102].
Ungulates: Prairie rose browse value for mule deer is fair during late summer and fall but worthless in winter [92]. During April and May, prior to active leaf growth, mule deer on the Manitou Experimental Forest, Colorado, lightly browsed prairie rose. By June and July, prairie rose made up approximately 17% to 18% of their diet, which was 2nd only to interior ponderosa pine and slightly more than bluegrass (Poa spp.). From August to October, mule deer utilization of prairie rose averaged 5.1% to 8.0% [35].
Pronghorn eating habits were observed in Petroleum County, Montana, during 1953 and 1954. During the spring, summer, and fall, prairie rose constituted 4.6%, 12.9%, and 5.3%, respectively, of pronghorn diets. Prairie rose was the most important forage species on the shale slopes of the study site [32]. Pronghorn diets near Lewistown, Montana, consist of 2% to 8% prairie rose during the summer [137].
Palatability/nutritional value: Little information exists on the palatability and nutritional value of prairie rose. It is described as palatable in the interior ponderosa pine region of Pike's Peak, Colorado [72]. Ferguson [51] describes the nutritional value of prairie rose as high. On the rangelands of North Dakota, the protein value of prairie rose leaves and twigs is sufficient for domestic sheep and cattle throughout the growing season [49].
After growth ceases and prairie rose enters dormancy, it retains reserve food material in its stems. Prairie rose taken from northern Alberta, where the temperature can fall to -50 °F (-46 °C) or below in the winter, retain starch, oil, and fat in their stems over winter [127].
Cover value: Prairie rose is described as a good cover species for a variety of bird species in the northern Great Plains [71,97] and in Texas [93]. It is the most common species found on American badger mounds at the Cayler Prairie Preserve, Iowa [98]. It provides cover for prairie skink lizards at the Cedar Creek Natural History Area, Minnesota [97] and for black-tailed prairie dogs in North Dakota near Theodore Roosevelt National Park [119].
Control methods:
Allred [2] discusses the use of chemical, mechanical, and biological methods to control prairie rose.
Fertilization:
Inouye and Tilman [70] discuss the positive effects of nitrogen
fertilization on prairie rose growth over an 11-year period.
Grazing:
In the interior ponderosa pine-bunchgrass ranges of the central Rocky Mountains,
prairie rose is favored by light to moderate (<33% herbage removal)
cattle browsing [36]. In the Badlands of
North Dakota, prairie rose cover in green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica)
draws was highest on sites that were heavily grazed by cattle [28].
Prairie rose begins growing in early spring and reaches senescence from September to October [86].
Data were collected from 1979 to 1984 on the phenology of prairie rose near Woodsworth, North Dakota. Earliest 1st bloom occurred on 29 May, and the latest 1st bloom occurred on 26 June. The average date of full prairie rose flowering was 29 June, and the average date when flowering was 95% complete was 31 July. The average length of flowering of prairie rose was 33 days [29].
Flowering dates for prairie rose are presented below:
State/Province/Region Flowering Date Arkansas May to August [132] Kansas April/May to August [86] North Dakota May/June to August [84] New Mexico May to August [132] Oklahoma May to August [132] Texas May to August [132] Great Plains May to August [58] North-central Great Plains June to August [115] British Columbia June to August [62]Prairie rose regenerates from seeds [42,43,44,58,121,122] and by sprouting from the root crown [51,62].
Pollination: Prairie rose is insect pollinated [89].
Breeding system: Prairie rose has perfect flowers [115].
Seed production: Most rose (Rosa spp.) species 1st flower and produce seed when they are 2 to 5 years old, and good seed crops are produced every 1 to 2 years [62]. In North Dakota, prairie rose plants taken from the field yielded from 189 to 200 rose hips/main stem [116,117] with approximately 15 to 30 achenes/rose hip [58].
Deer browse prairie rose and can have a detrimental effect on seed production. Spotswood and others [114] found that deer browsing caused a significant (p<0.001) decrease in prairie rose flower production and seed mass.
Seed dispersal: The seeds of prairie rose are primarily dispersed by birds and mammals [62,83].
Seed banking: Prairie rose is a seed-banking species [62].
Germination: Germination of rose seeds is very difficult, and scarification is generally needed for successful germination [62]. Prairie rose seeds taken from the tallgrass prairies of Nebraska and Kansas and planted unscarified in a greenhouse had at best a germination rate of 0.5% [14].
The average dormancy length for rose seeds is 12 to 15 months [62].
Seedling establishment/growth: In early June, 1991, prairie rose seeds were planted on 20 experimental plots at Cedar Creek Natural History Area, Minnesota. By August 1992, prairie rose seedlings had successfully established on all plots. However, by 1998, prairie rose plants were found within only 4 plots [53].
Asexual regeneration: Prairie rose sprouts from the root crown [51,62]. Several authors [76,92,125] suggest that prairie rose spreads by rhizomes, but this is not supported by more recent literature.
Prairie rose tolerates disturbed sites such as burns [27], has some shade tolerance [62], and occurs in several stages of succession.
Prairie rose occurs in early succession at the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory. It grows on sites that were grazed heavily and have rehabilitated naturally [4]. Prairie rose is found on secondary successional sites on the mixed-grass prairies of southwestern North Dakota [21]. At the Konza Prairie Research Natural Area, Kansas, prescription burning is employed to control woody plants. On unburned areas, prairie rose, along with coralberry (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus), Jersey tea (Ceanothus herbaceus), and smooth sumac (Rhus glabra), is part of a stable, dominant community [33]. In the Black Hills mountain-mahogany-sumac (Cercocarpus-Rhus spp.) association, prairie rose occurs as a "subclimax" species [64]. Prairie rose occurs on early "subclimax" sites in the interior ponderosa pine zone of Pike's Peak, Colorado. The site is farmland that had been abandoned 62 years prior to the study [72].
Tilman [124] lists prairie rose occurring in secondary succession in old fields at Cedar Creek Natural History Area, Minnesota. At the Cedar Creek Natural History Area, Lawson and others [83] found that prairie rose occurred in varying degrees of abundance on farmland that had been abandoned from 1 to 70 years ago. The greatest abundance of prairie rose occurred on fields abandoned from 30 to 50 years prior to the study.
Since growing prairie rose from seed is difficult [14,62], rehabilitation of disturbed sites is generally achieved by using bare rootstock or cuttings [51].
Bare rootstocks of prairie rose were used to successfully rehabilitate 6 mine reclamation sites in Wyoming and Colorado. Prairie rose rootstocks were planted at the 6 sites in May and June 1976 and height, spread, and survival rate were measured at the end of the growing season 1977. Prairie rose height, spread (diameter), and survival rate ranged from 1.5 to 4 inches (4-10 cm), 2 to 9 inches (5-22 cm), and 25% to 100%, respectively [17,69].
At the Samuel H. Ordway Jr. Memorial Prairie, South Dakota, disturbed sites were successfully revegetated by prairie rose plants. Plants were introduced on denuded earthen mounds at sites on the low, middle, and high prairie in 1987. The cover of prairie rose increased nearly 100% on all 3 sites by 1992. From 1988 to 1992, prairie rose increased on the low, middle, and high prairie from 0.7% to 1.6%, 1.1% to 2.1%, and 1.9% to 3.6%, respectively [130].
There was 1 prairie rose cultivar ('common') available as of 2006 [128].
Rosa arkansana, the prairie rose[1] or wild prairie rose, is a species of rose native to a large area of central North America, between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains from Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan south to New Mexico, Texas and Indiana. There are two varieties:
The name Rosa arkansana comes from the Arkansas River in Colorado. The species' wide distribution and consequent genetic drift has led to an extensive synonymy. It is a perennial subshrub and its native habitats include prairies, roadsides, and ditches. The plant attracts butterflies and birds.[2]
The name prairie rose is also sometimes applied to Rosa blanda, also known as the meadow rose or smooth rose, which is also widely spread, but somewhat further to the north.
Wild rose is the state flower of the U.S. states of Iowa and North Dakota. In Iowa, convention states the species is Rosa pratincola (currently treated as a synonym of Rosa arkansana). North Dakota, on the other hand, specifies either Rosa arkansana or Rosa blanda. Alberta's "wild rose" is Rosa acicularis.
Rosa arkansana is grown as an ornamental plant, and has become naturalized in parts of Massachusetts, New York, and North Dakota.
Rosa arkansana, the prairie rose or wild prairie rose, is a species of rose native to a large area of central North America, between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains from Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan south to New Mexico, Texas and Indiana. There are two varieties:
Rosa arkansana var. arkansana Rosa arkansana var. suffulta (Greene) CockerellThe name Rosa arkansana comes from the Arkansas River in Colorado. The species' wide distribution and consequent genetic drift has led to an extensive synonymy. It is a perennial subshrub and its native habitats include prairies, roadsides, and ditches. The plant attracts butterflies and birds.
The name prairie rose is also sometimes applied to Rosa blanda, also known as the meadow rose or smooth rose, which is also widely spread, but somewhat further to the north.