Cherokee Rose
Rosa laevigata
(Click on image to enlarge.)
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Cherokee Rose is common in the Mobile area: beautiful and unmistakable when blooming in March and April.
The plant itself is a long climbing vine, thickly beset with thorns, some straight, some slightly curved,
some hooked, all exceeding sharp. The compound leaves have three leaflets.
Cherokee Rose can create dense tangles, much worse to navigate than Greenbriar because of its hooked thorns. When working my way through such thickets, I have often been reminded of the thorns that surrounded the castle of Sleeping Beauty. I do not want to be too negative about Cherokee Rose, but I have also noted the scratches from its thorns heal slower than those from Greenbriar. Of course Cherokee Rose is a member of the Rose family, and a rose without thorns would hardly rate the name rose. |