Swamp Rose
Scientific name: Rosa palustris
Swamp Rose is a perennial shrub, up to seven feet tall, that is native to the eastern United States. It is a multi-branched shrub with the branches arcing gracefully and stout, hooked prickles. The flowers are a light pink and solitary or a few in a cluster, 1 to 2 inches in diameter. The leaves are alternate and pinnately divided with 7 leaflets.
Leaves
Alternate compound leaves occur along young stems; they are odd-pinnate with 5-9 leaflets (usually there are 7). Individual leaflets are 1¼-2½” long and ½-1″ across; they are broadly elliptic or ovate and serrated along their margins. The upper surface of the leaflets is medium to dark green and glabrous, while the lower surface is pale green and either glabrous or short-pubescent. The terminal leaflet has a petiolule (basal stalklet) up to ½” long, while the lateral leaflets are nearly sessile.
Fruit
The fruit (rose hip) is red and fleshy on the outside with a mass of seeds inside the rose hip. The rose hips are eaten and spread by birds.
Flowers
Rosa palustris is extremely fragrant and the pink blooms last for six to eight weeks in midseason, generally June through July. It blooms somewhat later than other native roses.
Habitat
Swamp Rose occurs along stream banks, in swamps and marshes. In swamps it is generally found growing on bald cypress knees or exposed downed logs. It grows best in slightly acidic, wet to moist soils in partial shade or full sunlight.
Leaves
Alternate compound leaves occur along young stems; they are odd-pinnate with 5-9 leaflets (usually there are 7). Individual leaflets are 1¼-2½” long and ½-1″ across; they are broadly elliptic or ovate and serrated along their margins. The upper surface of the leaflets is medium to dark green and glabrous, while the lower surface is pale green and either glabrous or short-pubescent. The terminal leaflet has a petiolule (basal stalklet) up to ½” long, while the lateral leaflets are nearly sessile.
Fruit
The fruit (rose hip) is red and fleshy on the outside with a mass of seeds inside the rose hip. The rose hips are eaten and spread by birds.
Flowers
Rosa palustris is extremely fragrant and the pink blooms last for six to eight weeks in midseason, generally June through July. It blooms somewhat later than other native roses.
Ecosystem Connections
Swamp rose is used as hedges, walls, fences or trellises for climbing, edges for low selections, for massing and raised beds. This species is an attractive shrub throughout the entire year. The fruits are eaten by wildlife.
Many insects feed on the foliage, flowers, and other parts of this and other roses.
Some vertebrate animals also feed on roses. The fruit (rose hips) is eaten by some upland gamebirds (Ruffed Grouse, Prairie Chicken, etc.), songbirds (Cedar Waxwing, Swainson’s Thrush, etc.), small rodents (White-Footed Mouse, Woodland Deer Mouse), and other mammals (Black Bear, Striped Skunk). White-Tailed Deer browse on the twigs and leaves, while Beavers use the woody stems as a food source and construction material for their dams and dens. Birds that construct nests in the taller roses include the Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Yellow Warbler, and Cardinal.
Did You Know?
The Swamp Rose is a member of the family Rosaceae which includes about 2,000 species of trees, shrubs, and herbs worldwide, including service-berries (Amelanchier), hawthorns (Crataegus), apples (Malus), plums and cherries (Prunus), and mountain-ashes (Sorbus), in addition to the many wild and cultivated types of roses.
Photo: Will Cook
Photo: R.W. Smith
Photo: W.D. and Dolphia Bransford
Photo: R.W. Smith
More on Trees and Shrubs in Lewisboro
Lewisboro was once entirely forested except for patches of open field caused by fire and wetlands and ponds which were expanded by beaver dams. Although it is hard to believe, by 1800 most of Lewisboro’s forests had been cut down and replaced by farms. In 1820 so many trees had been cleared that there was no shade anywhere along the route from Boston to New York.[1] But by the mid-1800’s farming here became uneconomical and as farms were abandoned, the forests began to re-grow. Today, 70% of New York is once again forest, what some call ‘the great environmental story of the United States’[2]. These new forests provide us with beauty and recreation, clean air and water, flood control, erosion prevention, carbon sequestration, cooler temperatures and habitat for other plants, insects, birds and other wildlife.
[1] Cronon, William. Changes in the Land. Macmillan, 1983.
[2] An Explosion of Green. B. Mckibben. Atlantic Monthly 275 (April 1995): 61-83.