Rosa woodsii

Rosa woodsii is a species of wild rose known by the common names Woods' rose, interior rose, common wild rose, mountain rose, pear-hip rose, and prairie rose.

Description
Rosa woodsii is a perennial bushy shrub which grows up to 3 m tall. The shrubs can form large, dense thickets. The plant reproduces sexually by seed and vegetatively by sprouting from the root crown, layering, and by producing root suckers.

The stems are straight, red to grey-brown and studded with prickles. The deciduous leaves are each made up of several widely spaced sharp-toothed leaflets up to 5 cm long.

The inflorescence is a cyme of up to a few fragrant flowers with five petals in any shade of pink and measuring up to 2.5 cm in length. Flowers bloom between May and July and have many stamens and pistils. The fruit is a red rose hip which may be over 1 cm long and matures in August to September. They can be eaten, used in tea or as medicine.

Distribution and habitat
It is native to North America including much of Canada and Alaska and the western and central United States. It grows in a variety of habitats such as open woods, plains, stream banks, stony slopes and disturbed areas.

In the Sierra Nevada, it grows to 11200 ft in moist, rocky soils in mixed coniferous forest, upper montane forest, and subalpine forest.

In culture
The flower was featured as one of four different wildflowers on U.S. postage stamps issued in 2022.