Climbing, round in cross section, usually hairless with curved thorns. The thorns are to 6 mm long, flat, tapering to a broad base and paired below the leaves and also occasionally sparsely scattered along the stem.
Flower head:
Large clusters of many flowers at the ends of the stems. Flower stalk 15-25 mm long, with fine short hairs or smooth and hairless or glandular hairy. Small bracts at the base of the flower stalk (pedicel).
Flowers:
White to pink, fragrant, 15-40 mm diameter.
Ovary -
Styles - Joined in a column, exserted, smooth and hairless, slightly longer than the stamens.
Sepals - 5, 10-12 mm long, lance shaped, edges smooth or with 2 lobes, hairy on top and smooth and hairless underneath, deciduous.
Petals - 5, semi double or double, white to pink,15-20 mm long, attached to the edge of the floral tube.
Stamens - Many of varying lengths. Usually yellow. Attached to the edge of the floral tube.
Anthers -
Fruit:
Red-brown to purple brown, almost globular, 6-8 mm diameter, smooth, hairless and shiny.
Seeds:
Many, small.
Roots:
Taproot and many laterals.
Key Characters:
Leaves with 5-9 leaflets.
White to pink, fragrant flowers.
Shiny red-brown to purple brown hip.
Biology:
Life cycle:
Perennial.
Physiology:
Reproduction:
Flowering times:
Seed Biology and Germination:
Vegetative Propagules:
Hybrids and Varieties:
Two varieties are recognised:
Rosa multiflora var. multiflora has white flowers, 15-20 mm in diameter.
Rosa multiflora var. cathayensis has pink flowers to 40 mm diameter.
Plants of this species from Taiwan are usually called Rosa multiflora var. formosana which is characterized by small leaflets, 10-30 mm × 8-15 mm, but this taxon seems to fall within the overall range of variation for Rosa multiflora var. multiflora.
Two other varieties are cultivated in China, but do not occur spontaneously:
Rosa multiflora var. alboplena which has white, double flowers, and
Rosa multiflora var. carnea which has pink, double flowers.
Allelopathy:
Population Dynamics and Dispersal:
Spread mainly by intentional planting and dumping of garden refuse.
Origin and History:
Native to China.
Distribution:
Habitats:
Road verges, creek lines, old settlements.
Climate:
Temperate, Mediterranean.
Soil:
Plant Associations:
Significance:
Beneficial:
Ornamental.
Detrimental:
Minor environmental weed of roadsides, old settlements and creek lines.
Toxicity:
Not recorded as toxic.
Symptoms:
Treatment:
Legislation:
None.
Management and Control:
In bushland situations, plant or encourage species that reduce light levels.
Slashing and deep ploughing or ripping in winter to bring the roots to the surface and summer cultivation to expose them to the sun usually gives good levels of control in agricultural situations. Replant to vigorous pasture species to prevent seedling establishing.
It is often difficult to control manually due to the production of suckers, coppicing and layering. All material needs to be burnt on site.
Grazing with goats can provide control.
Slashing alone is generally ineffective.
Mechanical removal, or slashing and burning followed by cultivation, can provide control if repeated regularly and then followed by planting of competitive, preferably perennial, pastures species that are grazed by cattle or goats.
Seedlings rarely establish in dense pasture or undisturbed native vegetation.
Control with herbicides is usually the most cost effective. Metsulfuron and Triclopyr plus picloram have provided the best results. Glyphosate can be used in home garden or other sensitive areas. Dead canes may be burnt or slashed in the following season to allow access and rehabilitation of the site.
Fire provides little control alone but assists access for herbicide application or other controls.
Triclopyr (Garlon®), triclopyr + picloram (Grazon®) generally provides good control any time the plant is actively growing with good leaf area.
Basal bark spraying the lower 50 cm of the stems with triclopyr or Access at flowering to early fruiting provides good control.
In Pine plantations hexazinone can be used.
Hexazinone as a spot treatment on the soil is also effective.
Imazapyr as an overall sprays when the plant is in full leaf to fruiting provides good control also and has a soil residual to help control suckers.
Follow up treatments are essential for high levels of control and to control suckering at the periphery of the bush in the season following spraying.
Low volume spraying is usually effective providing the amount of active ingredient applied per bush is kept constant.
For high volume spraying use 1 litre of mix for each 2.5 cubic metres of Rose bush (or 2.5 square metres of low lying Blackberry). This is equivalent to about 4000 L/ha of spray mix being applied.
Thresholds:
Eradication strategies:
Mechanical control is difficult and most of the root system must be removed for effective control.
3 annual, summer applications of 1 L of Grazon® plus 250 mL of Pulse Penetrant® in 100 L of water will eradicate most infestations. Replant native or agricultural species after control has been achieved.
On large infestations, 10 g metsulfuron(600g/kg) plus 250 mL Pulse Penetrant in 100 L water, applied in summer when the Rose is actively growing, provides a cheaper option to reduce the size of the infestation before Grazon® is used.
In urban and sensitive areas repeated applications of 1 L glposate450 in 100 L water will eventually provide high levels of control.
Herbicide resistance:
None reported.
Biological Control:
Pests include Aphids, Heliothis, Spider Mite and Thrips.
Diseases include Black Spot, Botrytis Blight, Dieback, Mosaic Virus and Powdery Mildew.
Related plants:
Cherokee Rose (Rosa laevigata) has white flowers and bristly fruit.
Chestnut Rose (Rosa roxburghii)
China Rose (Rosa chinensis)
Dog Rose (Rosa canina) is scrambling with pink and white flowers, 5 leaflet leaves and was a rootstock of ornamental roses.
French Rose (Rosa gallica)
Japanese Rose (Rosa multiflora) is invasive in the USA.
Macartney Rose (Rosa bracteata) has white, 5 petal flowers.
Manetti or Noisette Rose (Rosa chinensis x moschata) has pink many petal flowers and 3-5 leaflet leaves.
Musk Rose (Rosa moschata)
Sweet Briar (Rosa rubiginosa) has pink, 5 petal flowers and 5-7 leaflet leaves.
Rambler Rose (Rosa chinensis x multiflora) has pink to red flowers, the pedicels don't have prickles and it has 5-7 leaflets leaves.
Tea Rose (Rosa odorata)
Plants of similar appearance:
See the Weedy Blackberry and Rose key.
Blackberry (Rubus species) usually have palmate rather than pinnate leaves and a berry-like fruit rather than a “rose hip”.
References:
Bodkin, F. (1986). Encyclopaedia Botanica. (Angus and Robertson, Australia).
Randall, J.M. and Marinelli, J. (1996) Invasive Plants. (Brooklyn Botanic Gardens Inc. Brooklyn). P. Photo.
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200011286 Flora of China.
Acknowledgments:
Collated by HerbiGuide. Phone 08 98444064 or www.herbiguide.com.au for more information.