There are a couple of roses called the 'Prairie Rose'. The most common is R. setigera. It's the only native American member of the synstylae class, which includes R. multiflora. The one on my split rail fence has probably about 20 ft canes. The ones in the shade are smaller. Fragrance is light to non-existent.

It's strengths are extreme hardiness and disease resistance, as well as an almost unrose-like ability to flower in shade.

Thanks madgallica. It's R. setigera. I looked it up on helpmefind and was a little surprised to see it described as a possible climber (although the biggest seedling I have is looking climber-like) and the fragrance as "sickly sweet". Sickly sweet? sounds dreadful, lol. But yours isn't like that, so I won't be surprised if there's no fragrance. Good to hear about the disease resistance. I didn't know about its flowering in shade, so that's very useful to know.

I have R. carolina and that's a good bloomer in part shade.

Where I grew up, if anyone said "prairie rose" the only rose you'd think of was R. arkansana - I think more people overall are familiar with that plant by that name than R. setigera. If you have climbers for seedlings, then there is almost no doubt that it is setigera and not arkansana you are growing. Curved prickles would be another good sign of setigera; most other native species have straight prickles, usually fairly weak because they're not needed for climbing.

Stephan I did not know that. :) I will look at the prickles tomorrow.

The foliage of Rosa setigera is unmistakable. See the link below.

Wikipedia has a great Rosa arkansana shot:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Rosa_arkansana.jpg

Here is a link that might be useful: Rosa setigera

Berndoodle, thank you for those links. The seedlings are definitely Rosa setigera.

An interesting note is that R. setigera is diecious, and has some plants that bear hips, but most do not and appear to be males. I believe that I may only have males now. It is great to have a female for hybridizing purposes, although I have not tried it yet and may have lost mine. I have a few setigera hybrids including Baltimore Belle, Queen of the Prairies, a variegated semi-double that was listed as coming from Roy Shepard, and a beautiful strong pink semi-double once blooming rose that I have not done much work on its identification yet. I find the species and its offspring both interesting and beautiful. Best, Nick

Nick, I've coveted your striped setigera for a while on the name alone - what does it look like, how striking is the coloration?

I remember reading that many of the setigera hybrids were considered sterile for breeding purposes; perhaps the species' inclination toward dieocy passes on to its hybrids. Only 'Queen of the Prairies'/'Beauty of the Prairies' allegedly produced 'Gem of the Prairies' when used as a seed parent.

We may have have uncovered a couple of hybrid setigeras in the past couple of years. Anne Belovich has a very convincing photo of 'Superba' taking at Tete d'Or in Lyon posted on the Heritage Rose Foundation forum. Then there is the "Moser House Shed Rose" from the California Gold Country that was preserved by some intrepid California master gardeners. That cultivar is in commerce, as it was also found in far northern California by Gregg Lowery and is being sold as "Arcata Pink Globe."

Nick, if you'd like a plant of "Moser House Shed Rose," I'd be happy to bareroot one and send it to you. It has wintered in Ohio and in Stephen Scanneillo's garden in New Jersey.

Here is a link that might be useful: Moser House Shed Rose

Stephan - The semi-double striped/variegated setigera, interestingly, is fertile and produces hips. Today I collected several of them and look forward to seeing what they might produce in my first attemps to start some seedlings. The flower is not very impressive as I remember (I must have a pic somewhere - but where). I do have an extra plant of it as it has either suckered or tip rooted over the last 15 years to produce 3 or 4 off spring. Let me know if you would like to try one or just come out and we can have a look see next summer. I believe that its apparent fertility is a plus. It grows as a once blooming small climber much like its parent setigera.

Berndoodle - I would love to try the Moser House Shed Rose. Contact me at heritagero@aol.com for further contact information. Thanks. Best, Nick

And from my corner of the world in east TN, setigeras in the wild aren't tree climbers. They are all over the place and easily (albeit briefly) seen towards the end of spring bloom. But they are down in the weeds that grow up in fences.
I've never seen one here climb a tree, and I've been watching for six years looking for a taller local clone.
Even in Missouri, at the right time of year, it's easy to see tree climbing setigeras, just as we drive down old US highways.
This year for the first time I had open pollinated seeds on my shortish setigera (I've had it for eight years). Now to see what size offspring it makes when they are planted in good soils and pampered.

Ann - You raise an interesting point. Perhaps R. setigera is not diecious, but has special needs to be pollinated and make hips that ripen. However, originally I had several plants of R. setigera near each other (within 30 feet of each other) in a small field. Only one had hips late in the summer. I then labeled it my 'female' setigera. This occurred for at least 2 years that I remember for that same plant. Likewise, the striped setigera has many hips now, whereas my species, R. setigera, within 12 feet of the striped form, has no hips. Could it be a matter of availability of pollen from other roses. R. setigera and R. palustris are the last to bloom in my garden and usually bloom from mid June to the first week in July right at a rose pollen null point. The palustris however, does make plenty of OP hips, but it is separated from the setigera by more than 100 feet plus large shrub barriers. Unfortunately, I do not have much knowledge at present concerning pollen requirements for various species, but that may come with time. Best, Nick