English
Prickly Wild Rose
Latin
Rosa acicularis
Anishinaabemowin
oginiiminagaawanzh (Baraga: oginiminagawanj, -ig 'rose-tree')
Physical Description
Prickly wild rose is a bushy rose growing to heights of 3 feet, with dense, slender prickles. The alternate leaves are coarsely toothed and compound, with 3 to 7 elliptic leaflets per leaf. The petiole, or stem of the leaf, is covered with tiny glandular hairs, a characteristic which helps to distinguish this species from Rosa arkansana. The pink flowers bloom from May to July, usually singly on side branches. The bright red fruit is round to ovoid with many seeds and ripens in late summer to early fall. This rose grows in meadows, clearings, on rocky banks and ridges, in upland woods, and on limestone flats.
(Plants used by the Great Lakes Ojibwa)
(Plants used by the Great Lakes Ojibwa)
Uses & Preparation
Like other rose species, an infusion of the root of prickly wild rose was used by the Ojibwa as an eyewash, and the buds and rose hips were eaten.
(Plants used by the Great Lakes Ojibwa)
(Plants used by the Great Lakes Ojibwa)
Sources
Plants used by the Great Lakes Ojibwa, Meeker, Elias and Heim, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, Odanah, WI, 1993