''Rosa nitida'', also known as the shining rose due to its glossy leaves (''nitidus'' is Latin for 'shining'), is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...

species in the plant 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, ...

'' in the plant family Rosaceae. It is native to northeastern North America, from Connecticut north to Newfoundland and Quebec. It forms a low, suckering,

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

shrub, growing up to a metre in height, although often less. Its stems are thin and covered in fine bristles. Its

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...

leaves have 7 to 9 shining leaflets which turn bright red, yellow and purple in the fall. Its small pink flowers appear in summer and are subtly but sweetly scented, smelling like '' Convallaria'' ("Lily-of-the-Valley"). They are followed by small, round, red hips. ''Rosa nitida'' is very hardy, tolerating temperatures as low as , and will grow in a wide variety of soil conditions, including soils which are poor, acidic and waterlogged. In the wild it grows in bogs and by the edges of ponds. In the garden it is admired for its good leaf coloration in the fall.

Conservation status in the United States

It is a special concern species and believed

extirpated Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

, and endangered in New York.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q750814 nitida Plants described in 1809 Flora of North America