''Rosa minutifolia''Plants of the World Online. (2020). Rosa minutifolia Engelm. , Plants of the World Online , Kew Science. nlineAvailable at: http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:222367-2 ccessed 17 Feb. 2020Carol Bornstein, David Fross, Bart O'Brien 2007. "California Native Plants for the Garden". Cachuma Press. (paperback) (hardcover). pp 173Baldwin, B. G., D. H. Goldman, D. J. Keil, R. Patterson, T. J. Rosatti, and D. H. Wilken, editors. 2012. "The Jepson Manual: vascular plants of California", second edition. University of California press, Berkeley. is a species in the genus ''Rosa''. It is also known by the common names Baja rose, Baja littleleaf rose, and small-leaved rose.

Description

Dense shrub or thicket-forming perennial, found in

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

plant communities. In fact, it is exceptionally drought tolerant, particularly if given a thick layer of organic mulch; under drought stress the plant defoliates, exposing a small thicket of woody, and extremely spiny stems. Height/spread: 30–100 cm (1m) high and wide. Stems: Stems are low and arching, with many, generally unpaired, straight, slender prickles measuring 2-12mm in length. Leaves: The leaves of ''Rosa minutifolia'' are the smallest of the genus ''

Rosa Rosa or De Rosa may refer to: People *Rosa (given name) * Rosa (surname) *Santa Rosa (female given name from Latin-a latinized variant of Rose) Places *223 Rosa, an asteroid *Rosa, Alabama, a town, United States * Rosa, Germany, in Thuringia, G ...

'', with the terminal leaflets measuring just 3-6mm long and wide. Leaves are round, widest near the middle, tip shape to obtuse, with toothed margins about halfway to the midvein, glandless. Leaf axis is finely short-hairy and sparsely glandular. Leaflets are hairy and are arranged in 5-7. Flowers: Inflorescences are generally one-flowered,

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence. Such inflorescences are described as ''pedicellate''. Description Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absenc ...

are hairy and glandless, and measure to about 2-10mm in length. Flowers have a

hypanthium In angiosperms, a hypanthium or floral cup is a structure where basal portions of the calyx, the corolla, and the stamens form a cup-shaped tube. It is sometimes called a floral tube, a term that is also used for corolla tube and calyx tube. It ...

to around 3mm wide. Densely prickly neck to 2mm wide.

Sepals A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

have toothed lateral lobes and are glandless, with the tip generally being about equal to the body, which is also toothed. Flowers typically contain 10 pistils each. Petals measure 10-20mm and are deep pink, pale pink, or rarely white. Flowers appear in late winter, February–April. ''R. minutifolia'' is the earliest flowering of native California roses. Fruit: Fruit shape is typically spherical, about 5mm in width. Sepals persistent, erect to spreading;

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...

s unknown.

Distribution and range

Native to the

plant community of northern

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, where wild populations are extant, and

San Diego County, California San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...

, where it is now extinct in the wild.

Cultivation

''Rosa minutifolia'' is grown in gardens as an ornamental.

Etymology and naming

'Minutifolia'– 'with very small leaves' from 'minuti', meaning 'minute', and 'folium', meaning 'leaves'. 'Rosa' from the Latin name 'rosa' meaning 'rose'.Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. (hardback), (paperback). pp 260, 333 The name ''Rosa minutifolia'' was previously disputed, as some believed it to be in its own genus, ''Hesperhodos''. However, the name has since been resolved.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q958411 minutifolia Flora of California Flora of Baja California Flora of North America Flora without expected TNC conservation status