Wild Prairie Rose
| Wild Prairie Rose | ||||||||||||||||
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| Rosa arkansana | ||||||||||||||||
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| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||||
| Rosa arkansana Porter |
The Wild Prairie Rose, Rosa arkansana, also known as Rosa pratincola, Rosa suffulta, and Rosa suffulta var. relicta, is a bushy flowering plant that grows in a large area of North America, spread widely throughout the Midwestern United States between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains. The name is also sometimes applied to Rosa blanda, also known as the Meadow Rose or Smooth Rose, which is also widely spread, but somewhat further to the north.
The name Rosa arkansana comes from the Arkansas River in Colorado. The species' wide distribution and consequent genetic drift led to multiple parallel classifications, thus the large number of taxonomical names. Consequently, the US states of Iowa and North Dakota, for which the Wild Prairie Rose is the state flower, have been vague to specify a particular species. In Iowa, convention states the species is Rosa pratincola (currently thought to be synonymous with Rosa arkansana). North Dakota, on the other hand, specifies either Rosa arkansana or Rosa blanda.