Ottawa Society of Botanical Artists
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Ottawa Society of Botanical Artists
ACTIVITIES
BOtanical Art research project
FOLLOWING A UBIQUITOUS PLANT THROUGHOUT THE SEASONS
Peg Duncan
Leaves emerge tightly folded, almost pleated. They are a bright citrusy green, very shiny, ovate, veined and serrated.
The leaves are pinnate (a compound leaf, with leaflets arranged on either side of the stem, typically in pairs opposite each other), 7–14 cm long, with three to seven leaflets. Leaf surfaces are ridged or flat.
The flowers bloom around the end of June. The bud in this image is still closed, with the sepals folded up. As the flower opens, the sepals fold back and will persist attached to the hip.
Flowers are 5-parted and have short thin pedicels (stalks).
In the center of the 5 petals there are numerous stamens with yellow anthers surrounding a short, but wide column of yellow-green pistils rising from 18 to 33 carpels.
A closer look at the sepals and the hypanthium that will later become a hip.
The hypanthium (the floral structure consisting of the base of the sepals, petals, and stamens fused together) is ovoid to oblong.
The pollen on the wild rose’s bright yellow anthers are a valued food source for many beneficial insects, including bees.
Detail of rosehip with sepals and stipule where the stalk joins the stem.
Hips are red, ovoid or pear shaped, 10-15 mm in diameter.
Rose hips are a winter food for birds and mammals such as waxwings, pine grosbeaks, grouse, rabbits, coyotes and skunks.
Flowers continue to bloom into early Fall. This blossom is a fading beauty.