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Species Review

Rosa arkansana, prairie rose

Written
June, 2006
Contributors
Scott Hauser - 1st Author

Hauser, Alan S. 2006. Rosa arkansana, prairie rose. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://research.fs.usda.gov/feis/species-reviews/rosark

DOI
10.2737/feis-species-review-rosark

AbbreviationCommon NameScientific NameClassificationStatus
Plants
ROSARKprairie roseRosa arkansanaLife Form: Plants/Shrub
Kingdom: Plantae
Class: Dicot
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Rosa		Fed. Protected: No
Nativity: Native
Invasiveness: Noninvasive

Photo showing a small rose plant with a single pink flower growing in gravel.
Close-up photo of a bright pink rose flower with a circle of yellow stamens and pollinating insect in the center and dense green foliage in the background.
Close-up photo of a rose branch showing a cluster of three fruits (rose hips) at the end of the branch.

Taxonomy

The currently accepted scientific name of prairie rose is Rosa arkansana Porter (Rosaceae) [18,42,43,44,56,58,74,91,133,136]. There are 2 recognized varieties:

  • Rosa arkansana Porter var. arkansana [73,74,85], Arkansas rose
  • Rosa arkansana var. suffulta (Greene) Cockerell [23,39,73,74,85], sunshine rose

Synonyms

For Rosa arkansana var. suffulta (Greene) Cockerell:

  • Rosa suffulta Greene [63,115]
  • Rosa pratincola Greene [63]
  • Rosa alcea Greene [63]

Other Common Names

dwarf prairie rose, prairie wild rose

General Distribution

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.

States and Provinces

  • United States: AR CO IL IN IA KS MA MI MN MO MT NE NM NY OH OK SD TX WY DC
  • Canada: AB BC MB ON SK

Site Characteristics

Prairie 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 by state are presented below:

StateElevation
Colorado3,500 to 9,000 feet [35,63]
Kansas2,000 to 2,200 feet [1]
Montana1,400 to 4,400 feet [22,25]
Nebraska2,500 to 4,500 feet [126]
New Mexico3,500 to 9,000 feet [132]
South Dakota2,500 to 7,200 feet [16,64,68]
Texas3,500 to 8,500 feet [132]

Soil

Photo showing a small rose plant with a single pink flower growing in gravel.
Photo Credit
Photo © John D Reynolds, iNaturalist.org, some rights reserved.

Prairie rose (CC BY-NC 4.0).

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.

Plant Communities

Prairie rose is recognized as a dominant species in the following vegetation classifications:

Minnesota

  • Cedar Creek Natural History Area old field (codominant with little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis), and Heller's rosette grass (Dichanthelium oligosanthes) [124]

South Datkota

  • Black Hills (codominant with Wood's rose (Rosa woodsii) and skunkbush sumac) [64]

Botanical Description

Close-up photo of a bright pink rose flower with a circle of yellow stamens and pollinating insect in the center and dense green foliage in the background.
Photo Credit
Photo © Jim Wilson, iNaturalist.org, some rights reserved.

Prairie rose flower (CC BY-NC 4.0).

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].

Raunkiaer Life Form

  • Phanerophyte [100]

Seasonal Development

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 by area are presented below:

AreaFlowering Date
ArkansasMay to August [132]
KansasApril/May to August [86]
North DakotaMay/June to August [84]
New MexicoMay to August [132]
OklahomaMay to August [132]
TexasMay to August [132]
Great PlainsMay to August [58]
North-central Great PlainsJune to August [115]
British ColumbiaJune to August [62]

Regeneration Processes

Prairie rose regenerates from seeds [42,43,44,58,121,122] and by sprouting from the root crown [51,62].

Close-up photo of a rose branch showing a cluster of three fruits (rose hips) at the end of the branch.
Photo Credit
Photo © emilyanweiler, iNaturalist.org, some rights reserved.

Prairie rose fruits (CC BY-NC 4.0).

Pollination and Breeding System

Prairie rose is insect pollinated [89] and has perfect flowers [115].

Seed Production and Predation

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 and Plant 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].

Vegetative Reproduction and 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.

Successional Status

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.

Immediate Fire Effects

Prairie rose is top-killed by fire [51].

Postfire Regeneration Strategy

  • Tall shrub, adventitious bud/root crown
  • Secondary colonizer (on-site or off-site seed sources) [118]

Fire Adaptations

Prairie rose establishes after fire by seed [42,43,44,58,121,122] and/or sprouting from the root crown [51,62].

Plant Response to Fire

Prairie rose recovers from fire by seed [42,43,44,58,121,122] and/or sprouting from the root crown [51,62]. Prairie rose seed is dispersed onto burned sites by birds and mammals [62,83]. Prairie rose utilizes a seed bank [62] but as of this review (2006), there is no information on seed tolerance to fire. Seed insulated by soil is probably well protected from fire. Most of the research on prairie rose shows that it increases following burning. In 3 studies described below, prairie rose decreased following fire, but in 1 of those studies it returned to prefire levels in postfire year 2 [20].

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].

Sampling periodPrefireImmediately following firePostfire year 1
Stem density (# of stems/m² ± SD)0.8 ± 3.10.8 ± 3.40.6 ± 2.5
Mean maximum height (cm ± SD)17.4 ± 8.014.0 ± 6.615.6 ± 6.3
Mean maximum crown width (cm ± SD)10.6 ± 6.211.3 ± 4.711.9 ± 7.6

Beginning in 1972 on the Konza Prairie Research Natural Area, Kansas, parcels of land were subjected to 1-, 2-, and 4-year burning intervals. Prior to 1972, the entire area was burned every 2 or 3 years and grazed by cattle. The average cover of prairie rose on annually burned, 4-year burned, and unburned sites was 0.1%, 0.1%, and 0.4%, respectively [34].

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]:

SiteDedication Hill
(4 years after fire)		North Rim
(3 months after fire)
Burned12.5%17.5%
Unburned30%42.5%

Prairie rose was more frequent on burned than unburned areas in Iowa's 160-acre (64.75-ha) Kalsow Prairie. Prior to 1950, the Kalsow Prairie was "closely" mowed yearly. Since 1950, the primary management tool for Kalsow Prairie has been prescription burning. The 1st controlled burn took place in the spring of 1959, followed by a fire in 1968. Subsequent fires continued through the 1970s until the mid-1980s. Since 1986, 25% to 50% of the prairie has been burnt with an average frequency of every 2.3 years. In 1950, the frequency of occurrence of prairie rose on 1-m² quadrats was 45.0%. In 1999/2000, frequency of occurrence of prairie rose was 73.8%, which is significantly (p<0.05) greater than frequency in 1950 [45].

Prairie rose percent species composition was similar on burned and unburned plots in the Special Areas administrative district south of Buffalo, Alberta, following a 16,060-acre (6,500 ha) wildfire on the mixed-grass prairie. Prairie rose occurred in a lowland section of the district dominated by needle-and-thread grass (Hesperostipa comata), porcupine grass (H. spartea), western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii), and Montana wheatgrass (Elymus albicans). The range was in good to excellent condition prior to the fire. In late-July/early-August 1997 (postfire year 3), the estimated proportion of total yield contributed by prairie rose species on burned sites was 1.1% and 0.3% on adjacent unburned sites [48].

At an upland site in eastern North Dakota, prairie rose herbage production and caloric content were greater on sites burned in early spring and analyzed in August of the same year than plants on unburned uplands [61]:

SiteGrams/m²Calories/m²
Burned7.132,582
Unburned4.821,176

Prairie rose frequency increased over an 18-year period on both burned and unburned sites in the Konza Prairie Biological Station (KPBS), Kansas. The KPBS is floristically diverse, containing more than 600 plant species, but only 3 species (big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii var. gerardii), little bluestem, and indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans)) are dominant. During the 18-year period, fire rotation treatments were annual burns, 4-year burns, and a single burn that occurred in 1991. On annual burn sites, the frequency of prairie rose remained stable at 2.5%. On 4-year burn sites, prairie rose frequency increased from 17.5% to 30.0%. On the once-burned site, prairie rose frequency increased from 0% to 12.5% [65].

Beginning in 1965, an annual prescribed burning program was initiated at Cedar Creek Natural History Area in east-central Minnesota. Burning was conducted in April or May, between snowmelt and oak (Quercus spp.) leaf-out. In 2 years, 1970 and 1975, burning was not conducted due to unsuitable conditions. In 1979, prairie rose frequency was measured on burned and unburned areas. The frequency on annual burn sites was 6.4%, which was substantially greater than the 1.0% frequency on unburned sites [140,141]

Following a December 1997 wildfire on a rough fescue prairie southwest of Granum, Alberta, prairie rose cover increased on interior burn sites at postfire months 5 and 17, but cover on perimeter burned and unburned sites was relatively unchanged. The fire was extremely hot, with head fire intensity ranging from 10,000 to 20,000 kW/m². The average rate of fire spread (~6 miles/hr (10 km/hr)) was 1 of the greatest documented for a grassland fire in Canada. Conditions were favorable the 2 growing seasons following the fire, with precipitation 46% above average in 1998 and average in 1999. In 1998 (postfire month 5), canopy cover of prairie rose on interior, perimeter, and unburned sites was 2.7%, 0.5%, and 0.2%, respectively. In 1999 (postfire month 17), canopy cover of prairie rose on interior, perimeter, and unburned sites was 3.9%, 1.0%, and 0.5%, respectively [19].

In the Nebraska sandhills, prairie rose cover on south-facing slopes significantly (p<0.05) decreased postfire year 1 (1985) after spring and summer (1984) burning. By postfire years 2 through 4, prairie rose recovered to levels at or near prefire conditions. Fall burning of prairie rose did not significantly (p<0.05) alter cover [20].

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. For additional fire regime information, search FEIS for this species by entering the species name on the Advanced Search page and selecting “Fire Regime” as the publication type.

Community or ecosystemDominant speciesFire return interval range (years)
Silver maple-American elmAcer saccharinum-Ulmus americana<5 to 200 [134]
Bluestem prairieAndropogon gerardii var. gerardii-Schizachyrium scoparium<10 [79,95]
Nebraska sandhills prairieAndropogon gerardii var. paucipilus-Schizachyrium scoparium<10 [95]
Silver sagebrush steppeArtemisia cana5-45 [66,99,142]
Sagebrush steppeArtemisia tridentata/Pseudoroegneria spicata20-70 [95]
Basin big sagebrushArtemisia tridentata var. tridentata12-43 [106]
Mountain big sagebrushArtemisia tridentata var. vaseyana15-40 [7,26,90]
Wyoming big sagebrushArtemisia tridentata var. wyomingensis10-70 (mean=40) [131,144]
Saltbush-greasewoodAtriplex confertifolia-Sarcobatus vermiculatus<35 to >100 [95,145]
BirchBetula spp.80-230 [123]
Desert grasslandsBouteloua eriopoda and/or Pleuraphis mutica10 to <100 [87,95]
Plains grasslandsBouteloua spp.<35 [95,142]
Blue grama-needle-and-thread grass-western wheatgrassBouteloua gracilis-Hesperostipa comata-Pascopyrum smithii<35 [95,104,142]
Blue grama-buffalo grassBouteloua gracilis-Buchloe dactyloides<35 [95,142]
Grama-galleta steppeBouteloua gracilis-Pleuraphis jamesii<35 to <100
Blue grama-tobosa prairieBouteloua gracilis-Pleuraphis mutica<35 to <100 [95]
Curlleaf mountain-mahogany*Cercocarpus ledifolius13-1,000 [9,109]
Mountain-mahogany-Gambel oak scrubCercocarpus ledifolius-Quercus gambelii<35 to <100 [95]
Black ashFraxinus nigra<35 to 200 [134]
Green ashFraxinus pennsylvanica<35 to >300 [47,134]
Juniper-oak savannaJuniperus ashei-Quercus virginiana<35
Rocky Mountain juniperJuniperus scopulorum<35 [95]
Cedar gladesJuniperus virginiana3-22 [60,95]
Wheatgrass plains grasslandsPascopyrum smithii<5-47+ [95,99,142]
Pinyon-juniperPinus-Juniperus spp.<35 [95]
Colorado pinyonPinus edulis10-400+ [52,57,75,95]
Interior ponderosa pine*Pinus ponderosa var. scopulorum2-30 [5,10,82]
Galleta-threeawn shrubsteppePleuraphis jamesii-Aristida purpurea<35 to <100
Eastern cottonwoodPopulus deltoides<35 to 200 [95]
Quaking aspen-paper birchPopulus tremuloides-Betula papyrifera35-200 [46,134]
Quaking aspen (west of the Great Plains)Populus tremuloides7-120 [5,59,88]
Texas savannaProsopis glandulosa var. glandulosa<10 [95]
Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir*Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca25-100 [5,7,8]
Oak-juniper woodland (Southwest)Quercus-Juniperus spp.<35 to <200 [95]
White oak-black oak-northern red oakQuercus alba-Q. velutina-Q. rubra<35
Bur oakQuercus macrocarpa<10 [134]
Oak savannaQuercus macrocarpa/Andropogon gerardii-Schizachyrium scoparium2-14 [95,134]
ShinneryQuercus mohriana<35 [95]
Northern red oakQuercus rubra10 to <35
Black oakQuercus velutina<35
Live oakQuercus virginiana10 to<100 [134]
Little bluestem-grama prairieSchizachyrium scoparium-Bouteloua spp.<35 [95]
*fire return interval varies widely; trends in variation are noted in the species review

Fire Management Considerations

The research described above suggests that prescription burning favors prairie rose. However, exceptions to this pattern also occur. Managers should use caution if fire is used to manage prairie rose.

Wildlife: At the Woodsworth Study Area, North Dakota, Johnson [71] found that burning prairie rose and other shrub species may displace birds such as eastern kingbird, willow flycatcher, yellow warbler, common yellowthroat, clay-colored sparrow, and brown-headed cowbird, all of which thrive in woody vegetation that has been long-protected from fire.

Federal Status

None

Other Status

Sunshine rose is presumed extirpated in Ohio [23,129].

Importance to Wildlife and Livestock

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 and 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].

Value for Rehabilitation or Restoration of Disturbed Sites

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].

Other Uses

The Navajo and Lakota Native American tribes had many uses for prairie rose. Boiled roots were used for colds, fevers, diarrhea, influenza, and stomach and liver disorders. Tea made from petals was purportedly used as a heart tonic, to stop mouth bleeds, and to treat sore throats and tonsillitis. Rose hip tea was prescribed as a remedy for tuberculosis. Prairie rose hips and/or roots were steeped in water and used to treat eye inflammation. Crushed roots were made into hot compresses to treat swelling [105]. Plains Native Americans used prairie rose as a source of food [77].

Other Management Considerations

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].

A 17-year study of grazing within an interior ponderosa pine-bunchgrass range in Colorado found that grazing of any intensity caused a decrease in prairie rose. Prairie rose cover is very low in the area, ranging from less than 0.005% to 0.10%. Reduction of prairie rose was greatest on heavily grazed sites where more than 50% of herbage removal occurred [113].

Table A1— Forest and range ecosystems, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) physiographic regions, Kuchler plant associations, Society for American Foresters (SAF) forest cover types, and Society for Rangeland Management (SRM) rangeland cover types in which this species occurs.

Forest and Range Ecosystems

  • FRES15 Oak-hickory
  • FRES17 Elm-ash-cottonwood
  • FRES19 Aspen-birch
  • FRES20 Douglas-fir
  • FRES21 Ponderosa pine
  • FRES28 Western hardwoods
  • FRES29 Sagebrush
  • FRES30 Desert shrub
  • FRES31 Shinnery
  • FRES33 Southwestern shrubsteppe
  • FRES34 Chaparral-mountain shrub
  • FRES35 Pinyon-juniper
  • FRES37 Mountain meadows
  • FRES38 Plains grasslands
  • FRES39 Prairie
  • FRES40 Desert grasslands [55]

BLM Physiographic Regions

  • 6 Upper Basin and Range
  • 7 Lower Basin and Range
  • 8 Northern Rocky Mountains
  • 9 Middle Rocky Mountains
  • 10 Wyoming Basin
  • 11 Southern Rocky Mountains
  • 12 Colorado Plateau
  • 13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
  • 14 Great Plains
  • 15 Black Hills Uplift
  • 16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands [13]

Kuchler Plant Associations

  • K012 Douglas-fir forest
  • K016 Eastern ponderosa forest
  • K017 Black Hills pine forest
  • K018 Pine-Douglas-fir forest
  • K023 Juniper-pinyon woodland
  • K024 Juniper steppe woodland
  • K031 Oak-juniper woodland
  • K032 Transition between K031 and K037
  • K037 Mountain-mahogany-oak scrub
  • K040 Saltbush-greasewood
  • K053 Grama-galleta steppe
  • K054 Grama-tobosa prairie
  • K055 Sagebrush steppe
  • K056 Wheatgrass-needlegrass shrubsteppe
  • K059 Trans-Pecos shrub savanna
  • K064 Grama-needlegrass-wheatgrass
  • K065 Grama-buffalo grass
  • K066 Wheatgrass-needlegrass
  • K067 Wheatgrass-bluestem-needlegrass
  • K068 Wheatgrass-grama-buffalo grass
  • K069 Bluestem-grama prairie
  • K070 Sandsage-bluestem prairie
  • K071 Shinnery
  • K074 Bluestem prairie
  • K075 Nebraska Sandhills prairie
  • K076 Blackland prairie
  • K081 Oak savanna
  • K082 Mosaic of K074 and K100
  • K084 Cross Timbers
  • K098 Northern floodplain forest
  • K100 Oak-hickory forest
  • K101 Elm-ash forest
  • K106 Northern hardwoods
  • K107 Northern hardwoods-fir forest [80]

SAF Cover Types

  • 14 Northern pin oak
  • 16 Aspen
  • 18 Paper birch
  • 39 Black ash-American elm-red maple
  • 40 Post oak-blackjack oak
  • 42 Bur oak
  • 46 Eastern redcedar
  • 50 Black locust
  • 52 White oak-black oak-northern red oak
  • 53 White oak
  • 55 Northern red oak
  • 61 River birch-sycamore
  • 62 Silver maple-American elm
  • 63 Cottonwood
  • 67 Mohrs (shin) oak
  • 89 Live oak
  • 95 Black willow
  • 109 Hawthorn
  • 110 Black oak
  • 210 Interior Douglas-fir
  • 212 Western larch
  • 217 Aspen
  • 220 Rocky Mountain juniper
  • 235 Cottonwood-willow
  • 236 Bur oak
  • 237 Interior ponderosa pine
  • 239 Pinyon-juniper [50]

SRM Rangeland Cover Types

  • 101 Bluebunch wheatgrass
  • 104 Antelope bitterbrush-bluebunch wheatgrass
  • 105 Antelope bitterbrush-Idaho fescue
  • 210 Bitterbrush
  • 301 Bluebunch wheatgrass-blue grama
  • 302 Bluebunch wheatgrass-Sandberg bluegrass
  • 303 Bluebunch wheatgrass-western wheatgrass
  • 310 Needle-and-thread-blue grama
  • 311 Rough fescue-bluebunch wheatgrass
  • 312 Rough fescue-Idaho fescue
  • 313 Tufted hairgrass-sedge
  • 314 Big sagebrush-bluebunch wheatgrass
  • 315 Big sagebrush-Idaho fescue
  • 316 Big sagebrush-rough fescue
  • 317 Bitterbrush-bluebunch wheatgrass
  • 318 Bitterbrush-Idaho fescue
  • 319 Bitterbrush-rough fescue
  • 320 Black sagebrush-bluebunch wheatgrass
  • 321 Black sagebrush-Idaho fescue
  • 322 Curlleaf mountain-mahogany-bluebunch wheatgrass
  • 402 Mountain big sagebrush
  • 403 Wyoming big sagebrush
  • 408 Other sagebrush types
  • 409 Tall forb
  • 411 Aspen woodland
  • 412 Juniper-pinyon woodland
  • 413 Gambel oak
  • 414 Salt desert shrub
  • 415 Curlleaf mountain-mahogany
  • 416 True mountain-mahogany
  • 419 Bittercherry
  • 420 Snowbrush
  • 421 Chokecherry-serviceberry-rose
  • 501 Saltbush-greasewood
  • 502 Grama-galleta
  • 505 Grama-tobosa shrub
  • 508 Creosotebush-tarbush
  • 601 Bluestem prairie
  • 602 Bluestem-prairie sandreed
  • 603 Prairie sandreed-needlegrass
  • 604 Bluestem-grama prairie
  • 605 Sandsage prairie
  • 606 Wheatgrass-bluestem-needlegrass
  • 607 Wheatgrass-needlegrass
  • 608 Wheatgrass-grama-needlegrass
  • 609 Wheatgrass-grama
  • 610 Wheatgrass
  • 611 Blue grama-buffalo grass
  • 612 Sagebrush-grass
  • 613 Fescue grassland
  • 614 Crested wheatgrass
  • 615 Wheatgrass-saltgrass-grama
  • 701 Alkali sacaton-tobosagrass
  • 702 Black grama-alkali sacaton
  • 703 Black grama-sideoats grama
  • 704 Blue grama-western wheatgrass
  • 705 Blue grama-galleta
  • 706 Blue grama-sideoats grama
  • 707 Blue grama-sideoats grama-black grama
  • 708 Bluestem-dropseed
  • 709 Bluestem-grama
  • 710 Bluestem prairie
  • 712 Galleta-alkali sacaton
  • 713 Grama-muhly-threeawn
  • 714 Grama-bluestem
  • 715 Grama-buffalo grass
  • 716 Grama-feathergrass
  • 717 Little bluestem-Indiangrass-Texas wintergrass
  • 720 Sand bluestem-little bluestem (dunes)
  • 721 Sand bluestem-little bluestem (plains)
  • 722 Sand sagebrush-mixed prairie
  • 730 Sand shinnery oak
  • 731 Cross timbers-Oklahoma
  • 732 Cross timbers-Texas (little bluestem-post oak)
  • 733 Juniper-oak
  • 735 Sideoats grama-sumac-juniper
  • 801 Savanna
  • 802 Missouri prairie [110]

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