Rosa acicularis Lindl.

vernacular prickly rose — species · Rosaceae

USDA: ROAC
GBIF: 3002193
Rank: species

prickly rose (Rosa acicularis) — Platephotograph · keairareischauerCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Subshrub
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Rosaceae Juss.
Genus: Rosa

§2a

Native status, by region

AK Alaska Native
CAN Canada Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 17 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 17 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Low
Shade: Low
Moisture use: High
Fire: High
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: Low
Hedging: High

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -38 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 200 min.
Precipitation: 15–60 in/yr
pH range: 6.8–7.5
Root depth: 6 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Multiple Stem
Growth rate: Rapid
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 4 ft
Height @ 20 y: 1 ft
Foliage texture: Fine
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Moderate
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: Red
Fruit colour: Red
Fire resistant: Yes
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Early Summer
Seed abundance: High
Seed begins: Spring
Seed ends: Fall
Spread rate: Moderate
Stratify: Yes
Seeds / lb: 32,000
Propagation: seed, cuttings, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Contracting Only
Nursery stock: Yes
Browse palatability: High
Graze palatability: High
Palatable, human: Yes
Protein potential: Medium
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 17 counties across 1 state.

Montana view state ↗ 17 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/ROAC ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3002193 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z