Rosa carolina L.

vernacular Carolina rose — species · Rosaceae

USDA: ROCA4
GBIF: 3006171
Rank: species

Carolina rose (Rosa carolina) — Platephotograph · Carl Houck source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

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

§2a

Native status, by region

CAN Canada Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 3 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 3 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

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

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -43 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 100 min.
Precipitation: 25–60 in/yr
pH range: 4–7
Root depth: 12 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Multiple Stem
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 5 ft
Height @ 20 y: 5 ft
Foliage texture: Medium
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Moderate
Flower colour: White
Fruit colour: Red
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Early Summer
Seed abundance: Low
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Fall
Spread rate: Moderate
Stratify: Yes
Seeds / lb: 50,000
Propagation: seed, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: No Known Source
Nursery stock: Yes
Browse palatability: Medium
Graze palatability: Medium
Palatable, human: No
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 3 counties across 1 state.

Rhode Island view state ↗ 3 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

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

plants.usda.gov/ROCA4 ↗

GBIF Backbone

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

gbif.org/species/3006171 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

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