Website/Catalog  (2018)  
 
Rosa arkansana Porter in T. C. Porter and J. M. Coulter, Syn. Fl. Colorado. 38. 1874.
Prairie rose
Rosa alcea Greene; R. arkansana var. suffulta (Greene) Cockerell; R. conjuncta Rydberg; R. suffulta Greene

Shrubs, forming hedge clusters. Stems erect, slender or stout, 6–15 dm, openly branched; bark dull red to purplish red, glabrous; infrastipular prickles rarely present, internodal prickles densely mixed with aciculi ˂to stem apices˃, erect, terete, 1–3(–4) × 0.5–2 mm, base rarely extending to 3 mm, smallest often gland-tipped, aciculi rarely absent. Leaves 5–10(–16) cm; stipules 18–24 × 4–7 mm, auricles flared, 2.5–4(–7) mm, margins undulate, coarsely or shallowly glandular-serrate, surfaces glabrous or puberulent, eglandular; petiole and rachis sometimes with pricklets, sometimes with sparse aciculi, pubescent, sometimes glabrous, rarely stipitate-glandular; leaflets (5–)7–9(–11), terminal: petiolule 4–12 mm, blade obovate, sometimes elliptic, 15–40 × 8–20 mm, membranous, margins 1(–2+)-serrate, teeth 8–16 per side, eglandular, rarely gland-tipped, apex acute, abaxial surfaces pale green, pubescent, sometimes glabrous, eglandular, adaxial green, ± glaucous, dull, sometimes pubescent (especially along midveins). Inflorescences corymbs, 1–6(–16)-flowered. Pedicels erect, slender, 10–20 mm, glabrous, eglandular; bracts 1 or 2(or 3), broadly lanceolate, 11–20 × 5–8 mm, margins entire, eglandular, surfaces glabrous, eglandular. Flowers 3.3–4 cm diam.; hypanthium globose, 5–6.5 × 4–5.5 mm, glabrous, eglandular, neck (0–)0.5–1.5 × 2 mm; sepals spreading to erect, lanceolate, 11–20(–30) × (1.5–)3–4 mm, tip 3–7 × 0.5–1 mm, margins pinnatifid or entire, abaxial surfaces glabrous, stipitate-glandular or eglandular; petals single, rarely double, pink or rose, sometimes fading white, rarely white, 22–26 × 21–30 mm; ˂stamens 120˃; carpels 26–43, styles exsert 1.5–2 mm beyond stylar orifice (1.5 mm diam.) of hypanthial disc (3 mm diam.). Hips dull orange-red, globose, subglobose, or oblong, 10–11 × 7.5–13 mm, fleshy, glabrous, eglandular, rarely stipitate-glandular, neck 0–2 mm; sepals persistent, erect at hip maturity. Achenes basiparietal, 12–15, dark buff, ˂ellipsoid˃, 4.5–5 × 2.5 mm. 2n = 28.
Flowering May–Jul. Rocky slopes, dry hillsides, prairies, bluffs, open woods, grassy roadsides; 200–2100 m; Alta., B.C., Man., Ont., Sask.; Ark., Colo., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Maine, Mich., Minn., Mo., Mont., Nebr., N.Mex., N.Y., N.Dak., Ohio, Okla., S.Dak., Tex., Wis., Wyo.
Rosa arkansana is one of the more invasive indigenous roses in North America. Collections from Maine, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ontario, Quebec, and Vermont, where nativity is unknown, are introductions that by and large are ephemeral. In other states where R. arkansana is native, disjunct populations may be either introduced or ephemeral, including those in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and north-central Texas in disturbed areas. It is indigenous from northeastern British Columbia to Manitoba, east to Ohio, western Missouri, northeastern New Mexico, and Colorado in prairies and plains, and within the eastern Rocky Mountains of the North American Prairies Province (A. Cronquist 1982).
Rosa arkansana possibly arose from the diploid R. blanda and R. woodsii complex as an autopolyploid (S. Joly et al. 2006). It hybridizes with R. carolina; the hybrids are known as R. × medioccidentis W. H. Lewis...
In a breeding program initiated by Agriculture-Canada to establish winter hardy roses for the Canadian prairies, the best results were obtained by crossing Rosa arkansana and, sometimes, R. spinosissima with floribundas and hybrid teas to produce new cultivars such as ‘Prairie Joy’ (L. M. Collicutt 1992) and ‘Winnipeg Parks’ (Collicutt 1992b).

 

Magazine  (2012)  Page(s) 1888.  
 
ROSA ARKANSANA, Porter. Subsect. R. Cinnamomeae. Sepals persistent ; spines when present infra-stipular ; usually more or less prickly ; fruit smooth or glandular-hispid.

Book  (2002)  
 
Rosa arkansana. Arkansas Rose, Dwarf Prairie Rose.
Zones: 4-8; sun.
Soil: Moist to dry, well-drained.
Native to: Prairies, fencerows, and clearings; New York to Alberta south to Colorado, Texas, Missouri, and maryland.
Size: Height 1-2 feet, width 4-8 feet
Color: Soft pink with darker veins; blooms in late spring to early summer
A rapidly spreading, low species (really a tall groundcover), with short, stiff canes and long, dark-green leaves composed of 9 to 11 finely toothed, oval leaflets. the flowers are large and luminous for the size of the plant, clustered and up-facing amid the upper leaves. Hips are deep red and 1/4 inch across.

Article (magazine)  (2001)  Page(s) 393.  
 
R. arkansana Porter Ploidy 4x
Pollen fertility 53.2%
Selfed fruit set 50.0%
Selfed Seed Set 6.0%

Book  (2000)  Page(s) 48.  Includes photo(s).
 
Rosa arkansana/’Arkansas Rose’/Rosa suffulta: Rose sauvage - rose moyen. Amérique du Nord, 1896. Arbuste touffu n’excédant guère 60cm de hauteur… fins aiguillons… Les feuilles comptent de 7 à 11 folioles vert vif, elliptiques, à dents bien marquées. Les fleurs, d’environ 2,5cm de diamètre, éclosent en corymbes en début d’été. Les fruits sont petits, globuleux, rouge foncé…

Book  (Apr 1993)  Page(s) 503.  
 
R. arkansana Porter, Species, medium pink, ('Arkansas Rose'; R. angustiarum Cockerell; R. arkansanoides Schneider; R. heliophila Greene; R. pratincola Greene, not H. Braun; R. rydbergii Greene; R. suffulta Greene); Cult. 1880. Description.

Book  (1993)  Page(s) 66.  Includes photo(s).
 
[Listed under "Wild Roses and Their Cultivars"] A native American … growing on dry hills and prairies. Flowers throughout summer. Height: 2 ft. Scented.

Book  (1988)  Page(s) 134.  
 
location 129/1, R. arkansana Porter (R. rydbergii Greene), Cinnamomeae, North America 1901; pink, single, medium-large, solitary, floriferous; bushy, upright, well-branched, 0.5 m., many bristles; medium green, medium size, matte foliage, 5-7 leaflets; orange-red, small-medium, glossy, rounded-pyriforme hips; sepals upright, not persistent, firm, early ripe

Book  (1988)  Page(s) 157.  
 
location 147/1, R. lunellii Greene, CINNAMOMEAE, moderately blooming, early-blooming, vigorous, upright-arching, bushy, 2 m, many bristles, medium green medium size matte foliage, 5-7 leaflets

Book  (1988)  Page(s) 20.  Includes photo(s).
 
Rosa arkansana Porter. A low shrub with stems up to 0.5 m high, densely bristly and with straight prickles nearly to the summit. Leaflets 3-9, ovate or elliptic, obtuse or acute, without glands, glabrous, somewhat shining above. Flowers in a few to many-flowered corymbs; hips 1-1.5 cm in diameter, with persistent sepals. Native of the Mid-West from Wisconsin and Minnesota to Colorado and Kansas, growing on dry slopes and prairies, flowering from May to August. Very close to R. acicularis but differing in its glabrous, not glandular leaflets, and to R. suffulta, which, however, has leaflets softly pilose beneath.