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(Rosa arkansana)
Drawing copyright Mark Müller
Rosaceae Family - "Prairie Wild Rose"
Rosa is the ancient Latin name for "rose". Arkansana means "of Arkansas".
The Wild Prairie Rose is common to the western areas of the Tallgrass prairie region. There are 9 to 11 leaflets per leaf and the flower stalks and fruits are smooth and hairless. It will grow to height of 4 feet. Flowers in varying shades of pink bloom from June through September. There are five green sepals with the wild roses that form a vase-shaped base for the bud and flower. These mature into the fruit (rose hips) and look somewhat like an apple, retaining their color well into winter.
The Meskwaki and Menomini Indians boiled rose hips to make a syrup for a multitude of food uses. The skins of the boiled hips were used to treat stomach troubles. The Chippewa used the second layer of skin beneath the outer skin of the rose hips by scraping it into a cloth, soaking it in water and then squeezing that liquid into the eyes like eyedrops for sore or inflamed eyes. (This was the first step in a procedure that next involved the same process using red raspberry root.) Both Native Americans and early settlers boiled rose hips for food. They also ate the leaves, flowers and young shoots when other food was scarce.
It is said that 3 single rose hips contain the same amount of vitamin C as a large orange.
