Rosa rugosa (Rosa rugosa)

Naming▲ Back to top

In Japanese, it is called ''hamanasu'' , meaning "shore eggplant" and also ''hamanashi'' meaning "shore pear". In Korean, the species is called ''haedanghwa'' , literally "flowers near seashore".

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Rugosa rose is widely used as an ornamental plant. It has been introduced to numerous areas of Europe and North America. It has many common names, several of which refer to the fruit's resemblance to a tomato, including beach tomato or sea tomato; saltspray rose, beach rose, and beach plum are others.

The sweetly scented flowers are used to make pot-pourri in Japan and China, where it has been cultivated for about a thousand years.

This species hybridises readily with many other roses, and is valued by rose breeders for its considerable resistance to the diseases rose rust and rose black spot. It is also extremely tolerant of seaside salt spray and storms, commonly being the first shrub in from the coast. It is widely used in landscaping, being relatively tough and trouble-free. Needing little maintenance, it is suitable for planting in large numbers; its salt-tolerance makes it useful for planting beside roads which need deicing with salt regularly.

Numerous cultivars have been selected for garden use, with flower colour varying from white to dark red-purple, and with semi-double to double flowers where some or all of the stamens are replaced by extra petals. Popular examples include 'Fru Dagmar Hastrup' , 'Pink Grootendorst' , 'Blanc Double de Coubert' and the more common 'Roseraie de L’Haÿ' , which is often used for its very successful rootstock and its ornamental rose hips.