James H. Miller
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Multiflora Rose
Rosa multiflora
Origin: Japan, Korea and Eastern China
Background
Multiflora rose was introduced to the eastern United
States in 1866 as rootstock for ornamental roses.
Beginning in the 1930s, the U.S. Soil Conservation Service
promoted it for use in erosion control and as "living
fences" to confine livestock. State conservation
departments recommended multiflora rose as cover for
wildlife. More recently, multiflora rose has been planted
in highway median strips to serve as crash barriers and to
reduce automobile headlight glare. Its tenacious growth
habit was eventually recognized as a problem on pastures
and unplowed lands, where it disrupted cattle grazing,
and, more recently, as a pest of natural ecosystems. It is
designated a noxious weed in several states, including
Iowa, Ohio, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
James H. Miller
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Distribution and Ecological Threat
Multiflora rose occurs throughout the eastern half of the
United States and in Washington and Oregon. It tolerates a
wide range of soil, moisture and light conditions and is
able to invade fields, forests, prairies, some wetlands
and many other habitats. Multiflora rose grows
aggressively and produces large numbers of fruits (hips)
that are eaten and dispersed by a variety of birds. Dense
thickets of multiflora rose exclude most native shrubs and
herbs from establishing and may be detrimental to nesting
of native birds.
Description and Biology
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Plant: a thorny, perennial shrub with arching stems.
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Leaves: divided in five to eleven sharply toothed
leaflets; base of each leaf stalk bears a pair of small
fringed structures (stipules).
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Flowers, fruits and seeds: clusters of showy, fragrant,
white to pinkish, 1 inch wide flowers appear during
May; small bright red fruits, or rose hips, develop
during the summer and remain on the plant through the
winter.
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Spreads: reproduces by seed and by forming new plants
from the tips of arching canes that can root where they
contact the ground. An average plant produces an
estimated one million seeds per year, which remain
viable in the soil for up to 20 years.
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Look-alikes: pasture rose (Rosa carolina); swamp
rose (Rosa palustris); Allegheny blackberry
(Rubus allegheniensis); flowering raspberry
(Rubus odoratus). Only multiflora rose has the
combination of upright arching stems and fringed
stipules.
Prevention and Control
Young plants may be pulled by hand. Mature plants can be
controlled through frequent, repeated cutting or mowing.
Several contact and systemic herbicides are also effective
in controlling multiflora rose. Follow-up treatments are
likely to be needed. Two naturally occurring biological
controls affect multiflora rose to some extent: a native
fungal pathogen (rose-rosette disease) that is spread by a
tiny native mite and a non-native seed-infesting wasp, the
European rose chalcid.
Native Alternatives
common blackberry (Rubus
allegheniensis)
Chris Miller, NRCS
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swamp rose (Rosa palustris)
Chris Miller, NRCS
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flowering raspberry (Rubus
odoratus)
R. Harrison Wiegand
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pasture rose (Rosa carolina)
R. Harrison Wiegand
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