Common Names: Nootka Rose, Bristly Rose, Wild Rose

USDA lists four varieties, ITIS lists three subspecies, Jepson and E-Flora BC lists two varieties: var. hispida grows in the Intermountain West, from east of the Cascades to the Rocky Mountains, and var. nutkana grows in coastal areas from Alaska to California, east to the Cascades. The Jepson Interchange (Flora of California) considers other varieties to be part of the nutkana variety.

USDA LIST
var. hispida: (Bristly Nootka Rose)
var. muriculata: (Nootka Rose)
var. nutkana: (Nootka Rose)
var. setosa: (Nootka Rose) found in CA and WA

ITIS LIST
ssp. macdougalii (Holz.) Piper – Nootka Rose
ssp. melina (Greene) W.H. Lewis & Ertter – Nootka Rose
ssp. nutkana C. Presl – Nootka Rose

JEPSON & E-FLORA BC LIST

var. hispida: Leaflets singly saw-toothed, the teeth not gland-tiped; prickles rarely enlarged and flattened; plants mostly from east of Coast-Cascade Mountains.

var. nootka: Leaflets doubly saw-toothed, the teeth gland-tipped; infrastipular prickles becoming much enlarged and flattened toward base; plants mostly from west of Coast-Cascade Mountains

Note large generally single flower and two large thorns at base of leaf.

north Puget Sound
TRAIL: West Side Road (San Juan Island)
HABITAT: coastal bluff
ELEVATION: 15 meters (55 feet)
BLOOM TIME: 08-JUN