Family: Rosaceae

Rosa multiflora is a thorny shrub that escapes cultivation. Native to Japan, R. multiflora was introduced to China as rootstock for ornamental roses. Promoted as a living fence during the 1930s in the mainland USA, R. multiflora now occupies 45 million hectares. Several states have declared it a noxious weed. In Hawaiʻi, R. multiflora is naturalizing in the upper elevation forests near Kulani prison. The thorny shrub tends to form dense thickets that impede movement.

Description and Dispersal:

• Arching, multistemmed red-colored canes
  
• Compound leaflets with serrated edges
  
• Stiff, curved thorns
  
• Feathered stipuels
  
• White to pink flowers are produced in corymbs
  
• Bird dispersed seeds