Rosa acicularisLindl.

prickly rose

WFO wfo-0001012986 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Rosa acicularis, photographed by Quinten Wiegersma
fig. a Quinten Wiegersma, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-08 / obs. 205336727
Rosa acicularis, photographed by Виктория Билоус
fig. b Виктория Билоус, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 195682982
Rosa acicularis, photographed by Виктория Билоус
fig. c Виктория Билоус, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 192183332
Rosa acicularis, photographed by Виктория Билоус
fig. d Виктория Билоус, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 192180996
Rosa acicularis, photographed by Syd Cannings
fig. e Syd Cannings, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 192945366
Rosa acicularis, photographed by Yurii Basov
fig. f Yurii Basov, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 157331548
Rosa acicularis, photographed by Yurii Basov
fig. g Yurii Basov, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 156630417
Rosa acicularis, photographed by Nina Filippova
fig. h Nina Filippova, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 155695059

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 58 botanical countries

Regions where Rosa acicularis is native: Altay, Amur, Buryatiya, China North-Central, Chita, Inner Mongolia, Irkutsk, Japan, Kamchatka, Kazakhstan, Khabarovsk, Korea, Krasnoyarsk, Magadan, Manchuria, Mongolia, Primorye, Sakhalin, Tuva, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Yakutiya, Central European Russia, East European Russia, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, South European Russia, Sweden, Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Manitoba, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Québec, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yukon AltayAmurBuryatiyaChina North-CentralChitaInner MongoliaIrkutskJapanKamchatkaKazakhstanKhabarovskKrasnoyarskMagadanManchuriaMongoliaPrimoryeSakhalinTuvaWest SiberiaXinjiangYakutiyaCentral European RussiaEast European RussiaNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaSouth European RussiaSwedenAlaskaAlbertaBritish ColumbiaColoradoIdahoIllinoisIowaMaineManitobaMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMontanaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew MexicoNew YorkNorth DakotaNorthwest TerritoriesNova ScotiaNunavutOntarioQuébecSaskatchewanSouth DakotaVermontWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingYukon Korea
Native distribution of Rosa acicularis, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alaska ASK NORTHERN AMERICA
Alberta ABT
British Columbia BRC
Colorado COL
Idaho IDA
Illinois ILL
Iowa IOW
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Massachusetts MAS
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Montana MNT
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
North Dakota NDA
Northwest Territories NWT
Nova Scotia NSC
Nunavut NUN
Ontario ONT
Québec QUE
Saskatchewan SAS
South Dakota SDA
Vermont VER
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO
Yukon YUK
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
Amur AMU
Buryatiya BRY
China North-Central CHN
Chita CTA
Inner Mongolia CHI
Irkutsk IRK
Japan JAP
Kamchatka KAM
Kazakhstan KAZ
Khabarovsk KHA
Korea KOR
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Magadan MAG
Manchuria CHM
Mongolia MON
Primorye PRM
Sakhalin SAK
Tuva TVA
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX
Yakutiya YAK
Central European Russia RUC EUROPE
East European Russia RUE
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
South European Russia RUS
Sweden SWE

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Flowering 382 in flower of 853 examined

Peak flowering in Jun. Each bar is the share of Rosa acicularis observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 382 of 853 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 66 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Ozanonia lissinensis Gand.
  • Ozanonia ruprechtiana Gand.
  • Rosa acicularis f. alba Nakai
  • Rosa acicularis f. carelica (Fr.) Christ
  • Rosa acicularis f. glandulosa (Liou) Kitag.
  • Rosa acicularis f. lilacina Nakai
  • Rosa acicularis f. pilosa Nakai
  • Rosa acicularis f. plena W.H.Lewis
  • Rosa acicularis f. pubescens Liou
  • Rosa acicularis f. rosea Nakai
  • Rosa acicularis var. alba Y.T.Zhao & H.Xie
  • Rosa acicularis var. albiflora X.Lin & Y.L.Lin
  • Rosa acicularis var. albifloris X.Lin & Y.L.Lin
  • Rosa acicularis var. bourgeauiana Crép.
  • Rosa acicularis var. carelica (Fr.) Matsson
  • Rosa acicularis var. cucurbiformis Raup
  • Rosa acicularis var. fennica Avé-Lall. ex Koehne
  • Rosa acicularis var. glandulifolia Y.B.Chang
  • Rosa acicularis var. glandulosa Liou
  • Rosa acicularis var. glauca Regel
  • Rosa acicularis var. globularis Nakai
  • Rosa acicularis var. gmelinii (Bunge) C.A.Mey.
  • Rosa acicularis var. hypoleuca C.A.Mey.
  • Rosa acicularis var. lacorum Erlanson

and 42 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.