Shrub · Rosaceae
Carolina rose
Rosa carolina · includes its varieties and subspecies
Carolina rose is recorded as native to 33 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,185 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Carolina rose at a glance
- Native in
- 1,185 counties, across 33 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3a PLANTS minimum temperature −43°F
- Mature height
- 5 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Low water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −43°F; zone 3a winters bottom out at −40°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Carolina rose is recorded as native to 33 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,185 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,185 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 31 counties
- Arkansas 56 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 5 counties
- Georgia 33 counties
- Illinois 96 counties
- Indiana 74 counties
- Iowa 1 county
- Kansas 11 counties
- Kentucky 85 counties
- Louisiana 24 counties
- Maine 10 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 35 counties
- Mississippi 31 counties
- Missouri 102 counties
- New Hampshire 7 counties
- New Jersey 19 counties
- New York 41 counties
- North Carolina 47 counties
- Ohio 88 counties
- Oklahoma 18 counties
- Pennsylvania 63 counties
- Rhode Island 3 counties
- South Carolina 27 counties
- Tennessee 56 counties
- Texas 9 counties
- Vermont 7 counties
- Virginia 90 counties
- West Virginia 44 counties
- Wisconsin 55 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Subshrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 5 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Multiple Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- Low water use
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 25 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 4 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- Medium
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 12 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −43°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 100
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Early Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Red
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Rosaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ROCA4
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Rosa carolina (PLANTS symbol ROCA4), including 1 variety or subspecies folded into the species.
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources