Rosa carolinaL.

Carolina RoseCarolina rosepasture roseprairie rose

WFO wfo-0001014358 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Rosa carolina, photographed by Craig Martin
fig. a Craig Martin, CC0 1.0 / 2022-06-05 / obs. 203587234
Rosa carolina, photographed by Clay Gibbons
fig. b Clay Gibbons, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203316312
Rosa carolina, photographed by stephen
fig. c stephen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 202813322
Rosa carolina, photographed by John Abrams
fig. d John Abrams, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 202230577
Rosa carolina, photographed by stephen
fig. e stephen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 201648169
Rosa carolina, photographed by Roseanna Denton
fig. f Roseanna Denton, CC0 1.0 / obs. 201861240
Rosa carolina, photographed by Samuel A Schmid, PhD, PWS
fig. g Samuel A Schmid, PhD, PWS, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 199505914
Rosa carolina, photographed by Michael J. Papay
fig. h Michael J. Papay, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 199310593

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 40 botanical countries

Regions where Rosa carolina is native: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Northeast, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Prince Edward I., Québec, Rhode I., South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin AlabamaArkansasConnecticutFloridaGeorgiaIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMexico NortheastMichiganMississippiMissouriNebraskaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew YorkNorth CarolinaNova ScotiaOhioOklahomaOntarioPennsylvaniaPrince Edward I.QuébecSouth CarolinaTennesseeTexasVermontVirginiaWest VirginiaWisconsin DelawareDistrict of ColumbiaRhode I.
Native distribution of Rosa carolina, 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
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Arkansas ARK
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
District of Columbia WDC
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Maine MAI
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Mexico Northeast MXE
Michigan MIC
Mississippi MSI
Missouri MSO
Nebraska NEB
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
Nova Scotia NSC
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Pennsylvania PEN
Prince Edward I. PEI
Québec QUE
Rhode I. RHO
South Carolina SCA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS

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.

Also published as 95 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.

  • Rosa aucuparia Rydb.
  • Rosa carolina f. alba (Rehder) Rehder
  • Rosa carolina f. glandulosa (Crép.) Fernald
  • Rosa carolina f. plena (Marshall) W.H.Lewis
  • Rosa carolina f. triloba (S.Watson) Rehder
  • Rosa carolina unranked corymbosa Thory
  • Rosa carolina unranked pimpinellaefolia Andrews
  • Rosa carolina unranked salicifolia Ser.
  • Rosa carolina var. carolina
  • Rosa carolina var. corymbosa Raf.
  • Rosa carolina var. deamii (Erlanson) Deam
  • Rosa carolina var. erecta Raf.
  • Rosa carolina var. florepleno Andrews
  • Rosa carolina var. florida Donn ex Lindl.
  • Rosa carolina var. glandulosa (Crép.) Farw.
  • Rosa carolina var. grandiflora (Baker) Rehder
  • Rosa carolina var. hemispaerica Ser.
  • Rosa carolina var. hispida Raf.
  • Rosa carolina var. hispida Ser.
  • Rosa carolina var. inermis Schuette
  • Rosa carolina var. laevis Ser.
  • Rosa carolina var. lava Schuette
  • Rosa carolina var. litoralis Erlanson
  • Rosa carolina var. lucida Farw.

and 71 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.