(2002)  
 
Prickly wild rose (R. acicularis) is an equally [as R. arkansana] bristly spreading species usually a foot taller on average that ranges clear across the northern third of North America and into eurasia. It has leaves with only 5 to 7 leaflets and flowers tending toward dark rose pink. the spines are usually so thick on the slower-growing stems as to nearly obscure them. Hips are gray-purple and 1/2 inch in diameter.

(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.

(2002)  
 
Rosa blanda. Smooth Rose.
Zones: (3) 4-7; sun, part sun
Soil: Moist to dry
Native to: Dry woods, prairies, dunes and outcrops; Quebec to Manitoba, south to Indiana, Missouri, New York, and Maine
Size: Height 2-6 feet, width 6-12 feet
Color: Light to dark rose pink; blooms in early to midsummer
This is another quickly spreading, colonizing rose, whose stems are a bit taller than those of R. virginiana. The plant forms dense, leafy, impenetrable thickets in favorable situations. Leaves have 5 to 7 blue-green leaflets. The flowers come over a fairly long period, opening darker and fading lighter pink, but on the plants I have grown they are a bit droopy and irregular-looking. The stems are mostly spineless, except down low, but a vast population on Mt. St. Pierre in Quebec confused even the experts with its thorns - it turned out to be the very local var. hispida. hips are red and 1/2 inch. wide.

(2002)  
 
Rosa blanda....The stems are mostly spineless, except down low, but a vast population on Mt. St. Pierre in Quebec confused even the experts with its thorns - it turned out to be the very local var. hispida.

(2002)  
 
Rosa carolina. Carolina or Pasture Rose.
Zones: 4-9; sun, part sun
Soil: Moist to dry
Native to: Upland woods, dunes, prairies, and fencerows; Maine to Minnesota south to Texas and Florida
Size: Height 2-3 feet, width 3-4 feet
Color: Light to dark pink; blooms in summer
Carolina rose is similar in many respects to Virginia rose (R. virginiana), but its leaflets are a bit narrower, glossy, dark green and pointed, and its stems are set with both back-curved infrastipular thorns just below the leaf base and bristly spines along the internodes. flowers are held up singly or in pairs from the new growth, and like many other rose blooms, often open darker and fade over two to three days to light pink. The petioles, young stems, and shining hips are deep crimson. ...it is not too expansive n the garden and the leaves and stiff stems are very attractive. In the wild it spreads to form loose, patchy colonies, but is much thicker and mounded in cultivation. It is one of the best species for the Southeast, and is fairly cold-hardy, though it may experience some dieback in Zone 4.

(2002)  
 
...shining rose or New England rose (R. nitida)....lights up marsh and river shores through eastern Canada and New England with big pink flowers held over shiny, fine-textured foliage arrayed on bristly stems.

(2002)  Includes photo(s).
 
Rosa nutkana. Nootka Rose
Zones: 5-8; sun, part sun
Soil: Moist to moderately dry
Native to: Shorelines, thickets, clearings, and roadsides; British Columbia to Oregon
Size: height 5-10 feet, width 3-5 feet
Color: Soft pink; blooms early to midsummer
Nootka rose is usually a caney, rounded shrub spreading to form thickets. Flowers, borne singly atop the new twigs, are among the largest of any of the wild roses, up to 3 inches in diameter. A typical plant will be armed with a pair of stout, infrastipular thorns but not many bristles, except on young, vigorous twigs.....foliage is thin and dull green...

(2002)  
 
Rosa palustris. Swamp Rose.
Zones: 4-9; sun
Soil: Moist to wet
Native to: Swamps, bog margins, freshwater marshes, and damp shores; Nova Scotia to Minnesota south to Arkansas and florida
Size: Height 3-5 feet, width 3-6 feet
Color: Rose pink; blooms in summer
In the wild, swamp rose is intermixed with wetland grasses and sedges as well as other shrubs, but if you give it a bit of room and damp soil, it becomes dense rounded shrub bearing clusters of flowers over stiff little leaves composed of 3 to 5 leaflets. It sets quantities of small, round, red-orange fruits late in summer that, while not as large as some other rose hips, have a good visual effect, and their size may make them easier for some birds to handle. R. palustris has only pairs of thick, back-curving infrastipular and petiolar thorns.

(2002)  Includes photo(s).
 
Rosa setigera. Climbing Prairie Rose.
Zones: 4-9; sun, part sun
Soil: moist
Native to: Thickets, hedgerows, swamp margins; southwestern Ontario to Iowa and Kansas south to texas and Florida
Size: Height 4-8 feet, width 5-10 feet
Color: light to dark pink; blooms early to midsummer
Rosa setigera is the closest we get to a native climbing rose. It sends out long, weak canes set with stout, back-curved thorns and large leaves with 3 oval leaflets (5 on lower leaves) grooved deeply along the veins. There are some thorns on the petioles as well. It holds its fairly large flowers in clusters of 3 to 7 from the tips of both primary and axillary canes. Since the flowers in each cluster open up over the course of a week, starting out dark pink and fading light, a shrub in full bloom has a striking multicolor appearance.The hips are small and ruddy green. Still, R. setigera's habit and prolific flowering make it about the best wild substitute for the hybrid climbers.

(2002)  
 
Rosa virginiana. Virginia Rose.
Zones: 3-8; sun, part sun
Soil: Moist to dry
Native to: Woodland gaps and margins, thickets, dunes, roadsides, and fencerows; Newfoundland south along the coast through New England to Pennsylvania and Virginia and occasionally inland to Missouri
Size: Height 2-4 (6) feet, width 3-6 feet
Color: Light medium pink; blooms in early to midsummer
Probably the most common wild rose along much of the East Coast, Virginia rose is a disease-resistant, drought-tolerant colonizing plant with shiny, leathery leaves that turn deep red or maroon to match the young canes before they fall. Flowers are borne singly or in pairs on short axillary branches on the older canes, and these are followed by brilliant scarlet fruits that remain reasonably plump and visually effective for most of the winter. In a garden situation, R. virginiana will increase its diameter by 6 to 12 inches each year, becoming a mounded patch of stiff, upright canes set with stout, infrastipular thorns but no bristly spines. Flowers come in a flush in early summer, then sporadically a few at a time over the next 6 to 8 weeks.