Rosa palustris

What to Eat

Edible parts: Fruit

The fruit can be eaten raw, though it is usually cooked. The fleshy red rose hip is about 20mm (¾ inch) in diameter and has a tart flavour.

Where to Find It

It is a temperate plant. It suits hardiness zones 3-9. It grows in swamps.

North America, USA,

How to Identify

A shrub. It forms thickets. The stems are 1-2.5 m long. The leaves are 8-11 cm long. The fruit are deep red.

How to Grow

An upright deciduous shrub with arching branches for full sun to light shade. The best flowering and disease resistance will generally occur in full sun. Soil Description: Moist to Wet, rich soils. Plants will not grow in standing water, but will tolerate some seasonal flooding. Light Requirement: Sun , Part Shade , Shade. CaCO3 (calcium carbonate) Tolerance: Low. Conditions Comments: Susceptible to fungal problems. Can be grown in more upland sites if adequate moisture is provided. The root system is woody to woody rhizomatous with a tap root, and can produce suckering. A clumping plant, forming a colony from shoots away from the crown but with a limited spread.

Propagation: Rose seed often takes two years to germinate, as it may require a warm period following a cold spell to mature the embryo and reduce the seedcoat. One approach to shorten this is to scarify the seed and place it in damp peat at 27–32°c for 2–3 weeks until it has imbibed, then keep it at 3°c for four months until germination begins. Seed harvested green — fully developed but not yet dried on the plant — and sown immediately may germinate in late winter, though this method had not been fully tested as of 1988. Seed sown fresh in a cold frame sometimes germinates in spring but may take 18 months. Stored seed should be sown as early in the year as possible and stratified for 6 weeks at 5°c; it may still take 2 years to germinate. Prick out seedlings into individual pots when large enough to handle. Plant out in summer if plants exceed 25cm, otherwise overwinter in a cold frame and plant out in late spring. Half-ripe heel cuttings taken in July in a shaded frame, overwintered and planted out in late spring, give a high success rate. Mature cuttings of pencil-thick current-season shoots, 20–25cm long, taken in early autumn and planted in a sheltered spot or cold frame, can take 12 months to establish but normally succeed at a high rate. Suckers can be divided in the dormant season and planted directly into permanent positions. Layering takes 12 months.

Medicinal Uses

Rose hips contain high levels of vitamin C, making them useful for supporting the immune system.

Other Uses

This species is a good choice for wet, poorly drained soils and works well at bog or water garden margins. The leaves often turn attractive shades of red in autumn. It is a valuable wildlife plant — the hips are eaten by upland gamebirds such as Ruffed Grouse and Prairie Chicken, songbirds including Cedar Waxwing and Swainson's Thrush, small rodents such as White-Footed Mouse and Woodland Deer Mouse, and mammals including Black Bear and Striped Skunk. White-Tailed Deer browse the twigs and leaves, while Beavers use the woody stems as food and as construction material for dams and dens. Birds that nest in taller rose plants include the Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Yellow Warbler, and Cardinal.

Rosa palustris, the swamp rose, is a shrub in the rose family native to much of eastern North America. It can be found from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in the north, south to Florida and west to Arkansas and Ontario. It is a host of the blinded sphinx moth and Coptotriche admirabilis.

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