Wild prairie rose, the state flower of North Dakota

How to recognize it

Both of North Dakota’s wild roses bear flowers with five broad, rounded pink petals around a cluster of yellow stamens, and both produce round hips about half an inch across that turn bright red by late summer.

• Smooth rose (Rosa blanda) is the taller, a shrub about 4 to 7 feet high. Its new stems have no prickles, though older stems develop a few bristles near the base. Its leaves usually have five to nine leaflets, and its flowers are 2 to 3 inches across, pink to deep rose.
• Prairie rose (Rosa arkansana) is a low plant, often only about a foot tall, with densely bristly stems and nine to eleven leaflets per leaf. Its flowers, about 1.5 to 2 inches across, range from nearly white to deep pink and are often two-toned.

Two roses in one law

North Dakota’s law names the state flower as the wild prairie rose, “rosa blanda or arkansana,” so both species are covered.

Where it grows

Both roses are native to the lower 48 states and Canada, and the State Historical Society notes that the wild prairie rose grows along roadsides and in pastures throughout North Dakota.

Where to see it

Watch roadsides, pastures, prairie and woodland edges anywhere in the state in June and July. The low prairie rose favors open, often sandy prairie, while the taller smooth rose also grows along thickets, fence rows and lakeshores. Come back in late summer for the red hips.

The state flower since 1907

The rose was a North Dakota emblem before it was official. The University of North Dakota’s first graduating class chose its pink and green as the school colors in 1889, the year of statehood, and the Legislature made the wild prairie rose the state flower in 1907.