Rosa bracteata: A Surprise Sighting

An abandoned road makes a good path for a rustic walk. But the landscape, having been cleared about 15 years ago, was punctuated by young pines, Chinese tallow tree, and various scraggly shrubs and weeds. Initially, the most interesting plant was passionflower (Passiflora incarnata), and I thought that would be the extent of my sightings...

Passionflower: pretty, but ho-hum fare for a weedy trail

A little further on, I caught a glimpse of white in the underbrush.

Tiny white blips near the treeline-- a creeping white-flowered plant.

I was certainly not expecting a rose, as once-blooming roses' blossoms are long gone and are well on their way to having bright fall hips by now.

Although I'd never seen a naturalized one, I was sure at this point that I was looking at the charming Rosa bracteata.

In my view, such flowers are the epitome of purity. The white petals are thick and creamy-looking, somewhat unlike the other common non-native white roses found naturalized in the Southeast: R. wichurana and R. multiflora.

Partially-open blooms

One plant had grown into a sizable bush, laden with large and distinctive hips.

Likely, all of the R. bracteata from this area was the same clone, as it had spread across the ground for some distance, rooting along the way. Here is a shot of a low-lying bracteata thicket.

A bloom peeks out from underneath old woody stems.

I'd not really considered planting any R. bracteata or any of its hybrids before seeing this plant; but now that it's evident that it does well in central Mississippi-- and apparently blooms throughout the summer, satisfying my species rose fix even when the season for that is long gone-- I'll definitely be back to take some cuttings.

The large, wooly hips are a hallmark of bracteata

The hips are quite pubescent, almost looking like little unripe peaches with sepals sticking out of the top! The fuzz looks innocuous, but it can be a skin irritant.

How seedy.

Here is an excerpt from Yuki Mikanagi's Wild Roses of Japan: 

This rose is found only in some of the Yaeyama Islands, which are located in the southern points of Japan, but also is distributed in lowlands of Taiwan and southern areas of China. The author saw it growing wild in grassland on Ishigaki Island. In 1828, a drifting ship reached the coast of Cagayan, northern part of Luzon Island, the Philippines. When the sailors came back to Japan two years later, the captain brought seeds of R. bracteata to Daisuke Baba, a samurai and a famous plant collector. It was the first record of this rose in Japan, and so it came to be called Kakayan-Bara. 

This species has some interesting descendants, including the yellow 'Mermaid' and Ralph Moore's pink 'Muriel.' It definitely has some worthy traits, especially its sporadic rebloom-- but I have read that it is a somewhat recalcitrant breeder.

Although it is not native, it seems unlikely that it is invasive, as I didn't see any evidence that the plant I saw had seeded itself elsewhere. At any rate, it is not on any "noxious weed" lists, so for all practical purposes, I think it can be treated like other ornamental roses and grown where desired.

I'll be getting cuttings, and possibly rooted pieces, of this plant to establish in my own garden later this season; if anyone else wants some, I will be happy to mail out a few plants.