Comments about Gleason and Cronquist's Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada

page 258. There is a mistake in G&C that I discovered while working on the research and conservation plan for the regionally rare Rosa acicularis ssp. sayi in New England for NEWFS [New England Wild Flower Society]. Unfortunately, the error was carried over into the new printing. The description of the species refers to hips as being "dark blue or purplish." This error caused me no end of confusion and frustration when I first started searching for the species and thought it should be very easy to distinguish the only native New England rose with blue fruits! Anyone who searches for Rosa acicularis with dark blue hips is likely to find it only in herbaria. Apparently the dried hip changes color over time and does indeed appear blue or purple in old specimens. In the field, occasionally there is an old, rotten fruit that looks dark purple or almost black, but the healthy, mature, live fruits are scarlet.
   Perhaps the dearth of recent reports of this species in the Northeast is partly the result of others being similarly duped. Although the species is widespread and even weedy further west, it seems to be restricted to rich rocky or riverbank areas in the Northeast. If you find it anywhere in New England, please report it to your state Natural Heritage program and to NEWFS. --- comment received on 16 May 2004 from Alice Schori, publisher notified on 24 May 2004