Rose photo courtesy of Rosewild

Rosa acicularis, the Bristly Rose, has a wider distribution than any other Rosa species. From Europe to Asia across the islands of Japan to North America, rightly it's called the Circumpolar Rose. Within that broad range, Washington University botanist Walter Hepworth Lewis recognized two subspecies, a Eurasian octoploid (2n=56) named subsp. acicularis and a North American hexaploid (2n=42) named subsp. sayi. Rosa sayi was named for the American naturalist, Thomas Say. Photographed April 23, 2020 at "Rose Woods.

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Rose photo courtesy of Rosewild

Acicularis subsp. sayi wild-collected by Dave Harding in Banff, Alberta in Canada. Photographed at "Rose Woods" May 21, 2020.

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Rose photo courtesy of Rosewild

Unlike the Eurasian subsp. acicularis, the pedicel and hip are smooth with slight glandularness on the sepals of subsp. sayi as shown by my plant from Minnesota. Photographed April 23, 2020 at "Rose Woods in the Mayacmas Mtns. near Petrified Forest, California.

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Rose photo courtesy of Rosewild

Rosa acicularis, the Bristly Rose, has a wider distribution than any other Rosa species. From Europe to Asia across the Japanese islands to North America, rightly it's also named the Circumpolar Rose. Within that broad range, Washington University botanist, Walter Hepworth Lewis recognized two subspecies. A Eurasian octoploid (2n=56) named subsp. acicularis and a North American hexaploid (2n=42) named subsp. sayi. Photographed May 8, 2020 at "Rose Woods".

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