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Native Plant Propagation Guidelines:
shrubs

Rosa gymnocarpa (baldhip rose)

Category: 
shrubs

(photo by Dave Polster)

Spindly shrub, to 1.5 m tall, with slender stems, usually with numerous soft, straight (not curved) prickles, sometimes unarmed especially on younger stems, which are usually covered with stalked glands (needs hand lens). Leaves alternate, deciduous, compound with an odd number (five to nine) of toothed leaflets; leaflets 1-4 cm long; stipules present at the base of each leaf. Flowers small (1-2.5 cm across), pale-pink to rose; five petals, numerous stamens, usually solitary (not clustered), or occasionally in twos or threes, at the end of branches. Fruits orange to scarlet, pear-shaped ‘hips’, 6-10 mm across, without attached sepal lobes which fall away from the fruit early, leaving the end of the ‘hip’ uniquely bald; ‘seeds’ are bony, hairy achenes (one to seven per hip) (Pojar and MacKinnon, 1994). Photo by Dave Polster.

Scientific Name: 

Rosa gymnocarpa Nutt.

Family: 
Rosaceae
English Name: 
baldhip rose
Other Names: 
dwarf rose, wood rose

Geographical Range and Habitat Requirements

Ecological Setting: 

Found in a variety of habitats from open wooded, to dry to moist, at low to middle elevations, from the coast of southern BC to the Kootenays, Vancouver Island, and south to California. ) (Pojar and MacKinnon, 1994).

Soil Texture: 

Coarse to fine textured, well-drained soils.

Nutrients: 

Nutrient-medium sites.

Soil Reaction and Salinity: 
n/a
Moisture Regime: 

Rocky, dry to moist, wood margins at low to middle elevations (Pojar and MacKinnon, 1994).

Shade Tolerance: 

Full sun to partial shade. Prefers exposed situations.

Successional Status: 

Open canopied and cut over areas. Usually associated with salal, Oregon beaked moss and dull Oregon grape.

BEC Zone and GOE Community Status: 
n/a

Uses

Site Rehabilitation: 

Good potential as a reclamation species because of drought tolerance and value to wildlife.

Wildlife: 

New growth browsed by deer. Hips eaten by birds and small mammals.

Landscaping: 

Delicate specimen if grouped; somewhat scraggy as single plants. Pale pink to rose blooms. Bluish tint to leaves. Use as a hedge or in a shrub border (Grant and Grant, 1967).

First Nations: 

As with all species of wild rose, in spring, the tender shoots were sometimes eaten. A pleasant tea can be made from the young leaves and twigs and was drunk as a tonic. A decoction made by boiling branches or strips of bark was used also as an eyewash for sore eyes, for cataracts or to enhance eyesight. The Makah mashed the leaves as a poultice for sore eyes and any type of abscess. The chewed leaves were applied to bee stings, and the ripe hips were steeped, mashed and fed to babies with diarrhea. Leaves and bark were dried and toasted, and the resulting powder was smoked. Baldhip rose was used for protection for dance initiates, young people at puberty or relatives of the deceased. As with several rose species, hips were eaten sparingly when ripe by many northwest coast groups, including the Cowichan, Saanich, Ditidaht, Nuu-chah-nulth and Makah. The outer rind of the fruit only was eaten, because the seeds contain hairs that are irritating to the digestive tract, and are said to give one an “itchy bottom”. The hips were often considered a famine food. Branches of all species of wild rose – along with skunk cabbage leaves, fern fronds, pine needles, or salal – were sometimes put in steaming pits, cooking baskets and root storage pits. Cedar-root cooking baskets used for boiling foods often had rose leaves placed under and over food to flavour it and protect it from burning (Pojar and MacKinnon, 1994)

Other Uses: 

Spines of this rose were considered poisonous and thought to cause swelling and irritation if touched. Baldhip rose hybridizes occasionally with R. acicularis and perhaps with R. nutkana (Pojar and MacKinnon, 1994).

Seed Propagation

Flowering Time: 

late May to mid-July

Fruit Ripening Time: 

late September

Seed Collection Time: 

late September to mid-November

Crop Intervals: 

1-2 years, some every year

Number of Seeds per Kilogram: 

6000

Seed Viability: 

40-45%; storage life 2-4 years

Fruit and Seed Collection and Extraction: 

Soon after the hips change colour from dark green to reddish, hand collections may begin, and continue thereafter. Hips should be collected promptly - they disappear from the plants quite rapidly by bird and mammal predation - placed directly into bags. Gloves should be worn. If fruits are to be held prior to shipment to the processing plant, they should be placed in containers of cold water that must be changed at least every 24 hours, or placed in coolers at 2-5º C. If fruits are allowed to dry out, processing difficulties may arise, and overall germination may be decreased. Seeds collected shortly after ripening will be less dormant than those from fully dried hips. The seeds can be recovered by macerating the hips in water and separating the seeds by flotation; empty seeds and pulp will float. Seeds can be sown immediately, or be air-dried and placed in sealed jars for storage (1-4 years).

Seed Storage: 

Store dried seeds in sealed containers at 2-5º C, but best sown in fall.

Fruit/Seed Dormancy and Treatment: 

Freshly cleaned seeds that have not had a chance to dry germinate best. Stored (dried) seeds should be stratified at 1-3º C for 90 days. In spring, seeds can be broadcast or sown in drills. The generally recommended planting depth for rose seeds is 7-20 mm.

Vegetative Propagation

Method Success Rate Time of Collection
Softwood cuttings: Have been successful with Rosa acicularis, but unknown for this species. Moderate to good in other species. n/a
Semi-hardwood cuttings n/a n/a
Hardwood cuttings: Probably successful from new wood. Moderate to good in other species. October-November
Root cuttings Reasonable success in closely related species.  n/a
Suckers n/a n/a
Plant division n/a n/a

 

Outplanting Characteristics and Requirements

Open sun to partial shade. Moist to dry sites.

Seed and Cutting Propagation Techniques

n/a

Additional Information and Photos

For more information and pictures, visit the E-Flora BC website at www.eflora.bc.ca.