Wood rose is a fairly uncommon, mostly woodland shrub with a distribution from Orange Co. and the San Jacintos south through the Palomar Mts and Peninsular Ranges to San Diego Co., being most frequently found to about 5000'. It has grayish-
brown stems and is generally characterized by slender, straight prickles and leaves with 5-7 oval to roundish, doubly serrate leaflets glabrous on both sides. The flowers are 1-3 in an inflorescence, often solitary, with petals around 10mm long, and many stamens. There are fewer than ten pistils, one of the distinguishing characteristics between this and R. woodsii, which it closely resembles. Another such characteristic is that the sepals are deciduous in fruit in gymnocarpa and persistent in woodsii and most other California roses. It is easily distinguished from R. californica because that species has stout, recurved prickles. It blooms from May to July. These pictures were taken in Palomar State Park.

Click here for Latin name derivations: 1) Rosa 2) gymnocarpa.
Pronunciation: RO-za jim-no-KAR-pa.
Click here for Botanical Term Meanings.