Native Plant of the Month: Wood Rose
Picture a rose. Do you imagine massive, show-stopping flowers with dozens of yellow, orange, or red petals, adorning a manicured shrub?
Unlike most ornamental roses, California’s nine species of native rose (not counting the many more subspecies and varieties) possess a more delicate and subtle form of beauty. Their blooms are usually just a few centimeters in width with 5 pink petals, a form that is actually more attractive and accessible to pollinators such as bees and butterflies. Like our oaks and willows, they also host a variety of gall wasps by growing unique and often whimsical protrusions called galls that protect the wasps’ eggs.
One of the most common native roses of the Bay Area is the wood rose (Rosa gymnocarpa). It is also known also the baldhip rose for its distinctive rosehips, which drop the crown of sepals that are typically found on rosehips of other species. The bright orange-red hips are traditionally eaten or used for decoration by Indigenous tribes. Native people also use its leaves and stems for tea, smoking, and various medicinal and ceremonial purposes.
Growing Wood Rose at Home
As indicated by its name, wood rose does well within the dappled to full shade of woodlands. These shrubs typically grow 1-4 feet tall, and do not require much water once established. Plant them alongside other understory species, such as woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca), yerba buena (Clinopodium douglasii), hairy honeysuckle (Lonicera hispidula), alumroot (Heuchera micrantha), Douglas iris (Iris douglasiana), pink-flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum), and snowberry (Symphoricarpos spp.).
Where to Find Wood Rose
Our nursery grows native plants including wood rose using seeds and cuttings carefully sourced from local watersheds. Check out our latest inventory for online sales here:
By Stanley Gu, Ecologist
