On an autumn walk two weeks ago I saw this planted shrub.( located in Europe / Germany). Eye-catching were the purple-red new shoots and the small hips. These resembles in shape the hips of r.rugosa, but are much smaller. Glossy foliage. The first impression conveyed a strong wild rose character.
I am curious about your opinion. Any idea?
Many thanks for help!
Roseus
First thought was r. virginiana but I’m not familiar with it enough to be more than a suggestion.
The seed pods do look like Virginia pods. Long stipules with flutes also. The color, red, very characteristic, the needles not so much. No crumpled leaves so not rugose. Look in the ground at the roots to find blunt spades nose.
It looks like R. virginiana to me, too.
Stefan
My guess Its a strong contender to be either R. carolina or R. virginiana based on my garden samples.
However it’s thorn density is high compared to mine. My carolinas are taller than virginiana by 2 to 3 feet, as are the very similar flowers but slightly wider. One virginiana sported to plena a couple of years back.
R carolina
R virginiana
@JacqG, @Plazbo, @RikuHelin, @MidAtlas
My spontaneous guess went in the same direction, but I was quite unsure. Great thanks to all of you !
During a walk today to a place I already mentioned in my first post 2022, I was impressed by the very late bloom of what I believe to be R. virginiana. It is particularly noteworthy that this flush began already in early September 2025 and is still ongoing. There are buds present. I have been coming here very frequently for years. I can say that I have never seen so many flowers at this time of the year.
I suspect that the reason for this may be the severe heat waves with periods of heavy rain in sumer 2025, which prevented rose hips from forming. There are none this year. The plant therefore had more resources available, and the relatively mild autumn weather could have activated the stimulus of flower formation even stronger.
DAYUM, the foliage is so stunning a backdrop for flowers at this stage. Just…WOW.
Your rose pics don’t look like r. virginiana. Why is the foliage so red? Here in Canada 
my virginiana turns yellow in fall, not red….both of these leaves are taken during the fall; the left is just starting to turn yellow while the right is taken from higher up the plant and is a darker green before it starts to turn with the onset of cold weather.
During the summer, the foliage is a beautiful mid-green, very glossy, toothed, thinner, oblong and more refined as compared to the rose in your pictures that appears to be broader and thicker and larger. Hips are round and smooth.
Here’s mine…
Hello Dee_S,
thank you for your input to this interesting matter! Of course, it is possible that the species rose shown from me is not R. virginiana. But I based my attempt at identification on search through extensive literature as well on our forum knowing fully well that these North American Species are part of an species complex. It is sure, that these two very similar looking roses, R. virginiana and R.carolina, are often confused and thus also go on sale.
Nevertheless, I have often found the information, also stating that the leaves of Rosa virginiana are turning purplish red in fall (see screenshot and link below). Other sources are stating, while both Rosa virginiana and Rosa carolina have relatively glossy leaves, Rosa virginiana leaves are generally described as being glossier than Rosa carolina. In my case, both apply.
The main problem seems to be for me that, as to my knowledge, there is no holotype for the respective species available. I’m therefore unclear of the distinctive traits each rose represents in the condition originally described, which basically makes it rather difficult to determine the primal distinguishing attributes between them. In addition, these types are propagated via seed implying that varietal purity cannot be guaranteed. It could be a genetical mix.
At my first glance, there are a total of four roses on the site, spaced at a certain distance from each other. However, upon closer inspection, one rose shows some differences, as for example, its foliage is not as red and fiery in autumn, it has smaller rose hips, rounder leaves, less shiny foliage, larger corymbs, less scent of blooms etc.
The lady who once bought and planted all four species roses unfortunately could not remember their names, but she was sure that they all had the same variety name.
These are my observations and research so far. What do you think?
Hi Roseus,
Interesting…it states that Virginiana turns red in fall. I did a search and I guess the species has variants like many others, and I would think it especially so across continents. Flower colour ranges from light to deep pink. Just from looking at the blooms on your link, there’s no question that the one pictured on the right is rosa Carolina.
When it comes to species variants, I guess we’re all looking for that common denominator to assert identity despite the dramatic nuances that make it so challenging. There’s likely a variance in height as well as hips; some are clothed in tiny prickles where others (like my own) are not. 
Mine reaches 4 ft and turns yellow in fall as you can see here…smooth hips…
My virginiana flower (left) is a tad larger than Rosa woodsii (right). The latter grows wild along a back trail near my residence and apparently, it too, has variants, lol!
Wish I could be of more help, though; I’ve learned something in the process.
Hi Roseus,
Just consulted with a friend of mine who informed me that there is a rosa virginiana growing in Saskatchewan with purple-redidish foliage over 2 meters (6ft) tall.
So you are correct in saying that the turning of red during the fall is a common characteristic of virginiana foliage. So my rose posted in the above pictures is not virginiana after all and likely r. Carolina, LOLOL 
Go figure! Given that it grows as a short suckering shrub of 4 feet, I will definitely have to look into that further.
At some point that revelation was going to find it’s way into my conscience.
Hi Dee_S,
that is certainly true. Evolutionary processes and the associated characteristics in the external form of living beings, including all their individual features, are fluent. The discretization into species is an attempt to recognize order in the complex nature and thus also to establish a basis for scientific communication. This is not always easy.
