2. Rosa blanda Aiton (smooth wild rose, meadow rose)

Pl. 538 f; Map 2487

Stems (50–)100–200 cm long, erect or ascending, slender, unbranched or few-branched, green to red or orangish red, somewhat glaucous, densely covered with bristlelike prickles and bristles toward the base, grading fairly abruptly to essentially unarmed toward the tip, the prickles 1–5 mm long, 0.5–1.5 mm wide, the bases not broadened, mostly not flattened, straight, not gland-tipped, not paired at the nodes. Leaves 8.5–11.0 cm long, the petiole and rachis glabrous or hairy, sometimes with stalked glands, occasionally with small prickles and/or scattered bristles. Stipules (9–)15–25 mm long, the margins entire or shallowly glandular-toothed, the auricle mostly flared, (2.5–)4.0–6.0 mm long. Leaflets 5 or 7(9), (15–)25–40(–55) mm long, (8–)12–20(–30) mm wide, the terminal leaflet with a stalk 5–9(–13) mm long, the blades ovate to obovate, angled at the base, the margins simply toothed with 12–16(–20) teeth per side, these mostly not gland-tipped, often darkened at the sharply or occasionally bluntly pointed tips, the upper surface dull, green, the undersurface pale green, glabrous or minutely hairy mainly along the veins. Inflorescences at the tips of lateral branches from second year’s stems, of solitary flowers or more commonly small clusters of 2–4(–10) flowers, the flower stalks 14–25 mm long, glabrous or rarely with a few stalked glands, with usually 1 bract. Flowers not doubled, the hypanthium 4–5 mm long, glabrous or occasionally with a few stalked glands, the mouth about 2–3 mm in diameter. Sepals (12–)20–30 mm long, 2.5–3.5 mm wide, sometimes unequal, then some of them extended into dilated, somewhat leaflike tips and with the margins toothed or with 1 or 2 pairs of linear lobes, the undersurface glabrous or more commonly hairy and with stalked glands, erect, ascending or somewhat incurved after flowering, mostly persistent at fruit maturity. Petals 13–26 mm long, light to bright pink. Pistils 32–55, the styles free, hairy, not or very slightly extending beyond the mouth of the hypanthium, the mass of stigmas thus not elevated, closing the hypanthium mouth. Hips 8–11 mm long, 8–11 mm, globose or subglobose, fleshy, the surface red, lacking stalked glands or occasionally a few present. Achenes 16–28, 3.5–4.5 mm long. 2n=14. May–July.

Uncommon in the Glaciated Plains Division south locally to Jackson and St. Louis Counties (northeastern U.S. west to Minnesota and Missouri; Canada; introduced in Europe). Bottomland prairies, upland prairies, sand prairies, and edges and openings of mesic upland forests; also roadsides.

The name “smooth wild rose” is somewhat misleading, for although the stems mostly lack prickles, frequently there is a relatively abrupt transition to dense, bristlelike prickles in the basal third. Rosa blanda is closely related to R. woodsii. For further discussion on the taxonomic controversy surrounding these species, see the treatment of R. woodsii.