Please ID this native flowering shrub?

8 years ago

Found this flowering shrub out in a clearing in the woods on my property. It is approximately 8x8 or 10x10 on the eastern edge of thick honeysuckle and trees in zone 6b. What caught my eye from a distance is that all the honeysuckle in our area has finished blooming and thought it was just a late bloomer. Got closer and noticed the flowers and leaves were completely different. It looks a little like vibernum, but I'm not sure. I tried to get a good closeup pic of the leaves and flowers but couldn't get my camera to focus.

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NHBabs z4b-5a NH

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

Just a warning that the branches can be fairly whippy and quite long, so wear eye protection even if you don’t normally when brush hogging.

also, it will resprout from the roots, so it will require repeated mowing over more than one season or some judicious use of brush killer.

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Comments (12)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
8 years ago
looks like a rose to me.. lets see if anyone agrees ...

did you get close enough to see if there are any thorns???

ken
Embothrium
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Rosa multiflora infestation. Really no resemblance to Viburnum, as far as it goes.
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cvw_ky
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks for the replies.

Embothrium, I should have said it looks like a Viburnum to me, but I don't know anything.

Ken, I didn't see any thorns, but I will get a closer look at lunch. I was worried about the heavy dew and poison ivy everywhere and wasn't getting too close.

I have seen wild rose bushes, but have never seen them flower. Wasn't expecting the flowers to look like that.
cvw_ky
Original Author
8 years ago
Checked things out at lunch. Yes, it had tiny thorns on the stems near me, but normal thorns higher up in the big stems.

Thanks for all the help!
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
8 years ago
Embothrium gave the correct name, Rosa multiflora. It was immediately recognisable, whether or not we could see the thorns. And he also used the word 'infestation'. R multiflora is an invasive alien species so don't be tempted to put it in your garden.
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
8 years ago
And if you can remove it, do. Birds eat the seeds and then deposit them where ever they fly. Not wild, more like feral, and a major pest around here, creating dense thorny thickets that outcompete native plants.
cvw_ky
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks for the info. Yes, I have a bush hog that will get the job done.
Embothrium
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I don't know anything

You knew this was something different from what you had been seeing, so apparently you do know something. Hell, I've encountered more than one garden aware person in my area that thought this species was a blackberry plant.
cvw_ky thanked Embothrium
Embothrium
8 years ago
Drove by a property fronted by a carefully pruned and trained row of Rosa multiflora today, all in bloom. With a green belt right across the street, waiting for it.
cvw_ky
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Hey folks. Got the bushhog out this weekend and cleared out a bunch of stuff. The more I looked the more of those rose bushes I found. I now see why it is considered so invasive. Between this and the honeysuckle, there wasn't much else growing.

However, I found another tree/shrub that caught my eye. Can anyone ID this one? Keep or cut?
Embothrium
8 years ago
Dogwood (Cornus). Except for Old World species used in plantings one of these would be expected to be native when found.