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- Rosaceae
- Rosa
- Rosa sherardii
Rosa sherardii — Sherard's downy rose
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Facts
Sherard's downy rose is one of a few roses in our area with resin glands on its leaves that give them an odor when bruised. It is called a "downy" rose because its leaves have soft, tangled hairs on the undersides, particularly along the major veins. The species is named for the British botanist, William Sherard (1659-1728), whose work on classifying plants greatly influenced Linnaeus, who invented our moden species classification system.
Habitat
Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), meadows and fields
New England distribution
Adapted from BONAP data
Native: indigenous.
Non-native: introduced (intentionally or unintentionally); has become naturalized.
County documented: documented to exist in the county by evidence (herbarium specimen, photograph). Also covers those considered historical (not seen in 20 years).
State documented: documented to exist in the state, but not documented to a county within the state. Also covers those considered historical (not seen in 20 years).
Note: when native and non-native populations both exist in a county, only native status is shown on the map.
Found this plant? Take a photo and post a sighting.
Characteristics
- Habitat
- terrestrial
- New England state
- Vermont
- Growth form
- the plant is a shrub (i.e., a woody plant with several stems growing from the base)
- Leaf type
- the leaf blade is compound (i.e., made up of two or more discrete leaflets
- Leaves per node
- there is one leaf per node along the stem
- Leaf blade edges
- the edge of the leaf blade has teeth
- Leaf duration
- the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)
- armature on plant
- the plant has spines, prickles, or thorns
- Leaf stalk
- the leaves have leaf stalks
- Fruit type (general)
-
- the fruit is dry but does not split open when ripe
- the fruit is fleshy
- Bark texture
- the bark of an adult plant is thin and smooth
- Twig winter color
-
- brown
- purple
- red
- Bud scale number
- there are three or more scales on the winter bud, and they overlap like shingles, with one edge covered and the other edge exposed
-
Buds or leaf scars
- Bud scale number
- there are three or more scales on the winter bud, and they overlap like shingles, with one edge covered and the other edge exposed
- Bud scar shape (Fraxinus)
- NA
- Collateral buds
- there are no collateral buds on the sides of the branches
- Leaf scar arrangement
- there is one leaf scar per node on the stem or twig
- Superposed buds
- there are no superposed buds on the branch
-
Flowers
- Carpels fused
-
- the carpel is solitary or (if 2 or more) the carpels are not fused to one another
- the carpels are fused to one another
- Enlarged sterile flowers
- there are no enlarged sterile flowers on the plant
- Flower petal color
- pink
- Flower symmetry
- there are two or more ways to evenly divide the flower (the flower is radially symmetrical)
- Hairs on ovary (Amelanchier)
- NA
- Hypanthium present
- the flower has a hypanthium
- Inflorescence type
-
- the inflorescence has only one flower on it
- the inflorescence is a corymb (with long lower branches and shorter upper branches, giving it a more or less flat-topped look)
- Number of pistils
- 6 or more
- Ovary position
- the ovary is above the point of petal and/or sepal attachment
- Petal and sepal arrangement
- the flower includes two cycles of petal- or sepal-like structures
- Petal appearance
- the petals are thin and delicate, and pigmented (colored other than green or brown)
- Petal fusion
- the perianth parts are separate
- Sepal cilia (Ilex)
- NA
- Sepals fused only to sepals
- the sepals are separate from one another
- Stamen number
- 13 or more
- Stamen position relative to petals
- NA
- Stamens fused
- the stamens are not fused to one another
-
Fruits or seeds
- Berry color
-
- NA
- red
- Fruit tissue origin
- the hypanthium of the flower becomes part of the fruit
- Fruit type (general)
-
- the fruit is dry but does not split open when ripe
- the fruit is fleshy
- Fruit type (specific)
-
- the fruit is an achene (dry, usually 1-seeded, does not separate or split open at maturity)
- the fruit is an aggregate (composed of multiple fused ovaries from one flower)
- Nut with spines (Fagaceae)
- NA
- Wings on fruit
- there are no wings on the fruit
-
Glands or sap
- Sap color
- the sap is clear and watery
- Stalked glands on fruit (Rosa)
- there are no stalked glands on the fruit
-
Growth form
- Growth form
- the plant is a shrub (i.e., a woody plant with several stems growing from the base)
-
Leaves
- Hairs on upper side of leaf blade
-
- the upper side of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy
- the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs
- Leaf blade base shape
- the base of the leaf blade is rounded
- Leaf blade base symmetry
- the leaf blade base is symmetrical
- Leaf blade edges
- the edge of the leaf blade has teeth
- Leaf blade edges (Acer)
- NA
- Leaf blade flatness
- the leaf is flat (planar) at the edges
- Leaf blade hairs
-
- at least some of the hairs on the leaf blade have glands at their tips
- the leaf blade has tangled or woolly-looking hairs, without glands
- Leaf blade scales
- there are no scales on the leaf blades
- Leaf blade shape
-
- the leaf blade is elliptic (widest near the middle and tapering at both ends)
- the leaf blade is ovate (widest below the middle and broadly tapering at both ends)
- Leaf blade texture
-
- the leaf blade is coriaceous (has a firm, leathery texture)
- the leaf blade is herbaceous (has a leafy texture)
- Leaf blade translucent dots
- there are no translucent dots on the leaf blade
- Leaf duration
- the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)
- Leaf form
- the plant is broad-leaved (with broadly flattened leaf blades)
- Leaf lobe tips (Quercus)
- NA
- Leaf stalk
- the leaves have leaf stalks
- Leaf teeth
- the leaf blade margin has teeth, which themselves have smaller teeth on them
- Leaf teeth hairs (Carya)
- NA
- Leaf type
- the leaf blade is compound (i.e., made up of two or more discrete leaflets
- Leaves per node
- there is one leaf per node along the stem
- Specific leaf type
- the leaf is compound, with three leaflets
- Stipules
- the plant has stipules
-
Place
- Habitat
- terrestrial
- New England state
- Vermont
- Specific habitat
-
- man-made or disturbed habitats
- meadows or fields
-
Stem, shoot, branch
- Aerial roots
- the plant has no aerial roots
- Bark texture
- the bark of an adult plant is thin and smooth
- Branch brittleness (willows only)
- NA
- Branch cross-section
- the branch is circular in cross-section, or it has five or more sides, so that there are no sharp angles
- First-year cane (Rubus)
- NA
- Pith shape
- the outline of the pith in a twig is roughly round
- Twig papillae (Vaccinium species only)
- NA
- Twig winter color
-
- brown
- purple
- red
- Wings on branch
- the branch does not have wings on it
- armature on plant
- the plant has spines, prickles, or thorns
Wetland status
Not classified
In New England
Distribution
- Connecticut
- absent
- Maine
- absent
- Massachusetts
- absent
- New Hampshire
- absent
- Rhode Island
- absent
- Vermont
- present
Conservation status
None
From Flora Novae Angliae dichotomous key
19. Rosa sherardii Davies E
Sherard’s downy rose. VT. Fields, roadsides.
Native to North America?
No
Sometimes confused with
- Rosa mollis:
- prickles straight, horizontally spreading, sepals entire, the bases fleshy, and orifice of the hypanthium 1/2 or more the diameter of the disk (vs. R. sherardii, with prickles slightly curved, sepal usually pinnately lobed, the bases thin and chartaceous, and orifice of hypanthium ca. 1/3 the diameter of the disk).