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Location: Arnold Arboretum, Boston.

Urban species #166: Multiflora rose Rosa multiflora

Early in June, exuberant sprays of small white five-petaled blossoms suddenly appear on prickly shrubs and climbing thorn bushes. A week later, the petals drop away, leaving tangles of green barbed wire entwined in fences and hedges. Seasons later, tiny red rose hips dot the places where the many flowers once were.
Multiflora rose is, like many urban species, a mixed curse and blessing. Its brief bright blossoms are a blessing to city people who appreciate seeing ugly weeds turn into showy wildflowers.

Moreover the roses are a blessing to the many birds that feed upon their fruit. Important among these are the mockingbird, who in large part owes its very presence in the northern states to the winter fruit of this alien rose. Introduced from Asia to provide hardy rootstock for ornamental roses, multiflora has naturalized, with birds providing the service of seed dispersal. The rapid-growing, thorny bushes were also planted in many places to act as living fences. This is where the curse part comes in. Multiflora invades and takes over scrubland, crowding out native species, and making large swaths of countryside unpassable. In the fight against invasive species, multiflora rose has the advantage of being able to fight back. This author, among countless others, has been repeatedly bloodied in the battle to control the dreaded roses.




Location: Olmsted Park, Boston.




Introduced semi-domestic insect pollinates introduced semi-domestic plant.

Next two pictures by [livejournal.com profile] cottonmanifesto (that's her, in the top picture, taking these two pictures:)



Date: 2006-06-16 10:00 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ritaxis.livejournal.com
Thank you. I've been thinking about that all day, how roses of all sorts do establish themselves in little spots but do not spread. It seems to me that one important clue is that roses hardly go dormant here. Some just don't: they bloom and produce new leaves all year, only slowing down a little. I do believe this is not just choice of variety: I believe I have seen mention of roses grown elsewhere that go dormant in those places and not here.

So I was thinking: what if that's crucial to the roses' spread? Like we have all these species here that don't germinate without fire. Do rose seeds have to be traumatized to germinate?

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