Invasive SpeciesMultiflora rose

Rosa multiflora
FOUND by D1P4Team2
Camden, Maine
ID Confirmed
Quality checked by Katie B
Peer reviewed by Maia M
Field Notes
We are happy because we found the plant we were looking for. And we had the resources we needed. We can see a sewage plant, trees, and water. We hear birds chirping, lawn mowers and the voices of other people. We smell freshly cut grass. We are surprised by what we found because it is in the only place we looked. We literally didn't find it anywhere else. A question we ran into was why were there barely any thorns on our plant, but in the picture there were a lot? We found out that it was because it's early in the season and its still growing One more question we had was why could we only find one plant in the area we looked? We could not find the answer to that.
A sketch of our study site.
Supporting Evidence
Photo of my evidence.
The leaf shape is the compound pinnate.
Photo of my evidence.
The stem is arched, and the color is red/ brown. There on hairs on new growth.
Photo of my evidence.
Height of the plant is 1.5 meters tall.
Species Observation: Species Looked For
Did you find it?: 
I think I found it
Scientific name:
Rosa multiflora
Common name:
Multiflora rose
Sampling method: 
Just looking around
Photo of our sampling method.
Place Studied
Map this species
N 44.210910 °
W -69.074530 °
Observation Site Information
A photo of our study site.
Upland - Developed areas
Trip Information
CRMS 2013
Trip date: 
Tue, 2013-05-21 12:51
Town or city: 
Camden, Maine
Type of investigation: 
Species Survey


Wow that is really interesting because we studied the species within the same hundred meters. We came to the conclusion that we did not find it, but it is great that you guys did.


I think that asking "should we remove this plant?" is a great question! It might be the start of a really good discussion in your classroom. Here are some questions I think you could include in your discussion:

1-Should you pull out this plant? If it's not on your own property, should you be allowed to pull it out even if you know it's invasive?

2-If you pull it out, will it stop the invasion? If not, will it slow the invasion down?

3-Even if you think pulling it will not stop the invasion, are there other reasons why you should pull it out?

I'm not sure there are "right answers" to these questions, but I think that during your discussion you'd learn that everyone has different opinions!

This is what we came up with in our discussion:

One question I have is that should we open up this discussion to the grades science class? Like how important is this to make a decision whether or not to.

Does this species spread fast?
How far does it spread?

One group decided to take it out because they want no spreading
Another group said that we want to take it out because we don't want it to spread it to places where we do use it.
Another group said to not take it out because it's already here, and doesn't use area
Another group said that no because there is no point because it takes to much money, and time- and it could damage another area.

We couldn't make the decision as a class, so our group might make the decision whether to take it out or not.

Our group in the discussion said that we should because it might spread to areas that we use, and it will take over the soccer field or baseball, or field hockey field, and then we are not able to use the field anymore. Plus the bird could pick up the seeds, and put it to some place that we really need to use it in so we can't use that place in. Also that it won't take much time, and money to do it since it's not that far in it's stage. So that's why our group decided to.

Comment on what you think about our discussion. What is your opinion, should we take it out? If our group that found this invasive species can't make a decision than it will help a lot if you help make the decision for us. Thank you so much for your cooperation!

I'm so impressed that you followed through on this. Invasive plants are a community problem, not a private property owner's problem. As you have discovered from your classroom discussion, communities are composed of people who do not always even agree that a problem exists, or what to do (or not do) about problems.

I work with weeds and with invasive plants, and people often ask me about how to manage both of them. Weeds are easy: they're just plants in places where we don't want them. They're usually on our own property. We can make a decision as an individual about whether or not we want to control them. And, if we decide not to control them, we are the only ones to bear the consequences.

But some of those "weeds" have the ability to jump space (for instance, by birds who eat and distribute seeds) and colonize other people's land and areas of natural habitat. That's when we begin to call them "invasive", and that's when we have to have community discussions about what to do.

So ... from this invasive plant identification and discussion, you've just learned about how our political system works! Sometimes we agree on issues, and move forward together. But sometimes we disagree, and don't do much of anything at all, and the situation sometimes goes away but it sometimes gets worse. The issue of invasive plants is just one example.

I really do admire your willingness to open up this issue to a group discussion in your classroom. I hope you all continue to do that. The real solution to almost all of our problems is being willing to raise issues, see new viewpoints, understand all the things that might happen if we do or do not address the problems ... in other words, to communicate. You have great potential to become community leaders!

Good job finding this plant on your first try!

You asked two really good questions:

Question #1: Why is there just one plant at this site? To answer this question, you have to think about how this plant is spread from one place to another. The answer is: birds!! Birds eat the fruits that contain the seeds, and they drop those seeds in a new place. If the seeds land in a place where there is light + soil + moisture, then they are able to germinate and grow.

Question #2: Why is there just one plant? Every invasion starts somewhere. It think that you found the beginning of an invasion. What will happen next? Here's my thought: if this plant is not removed, then it will flower. Judging from the size of the plant, I'd say that is should flower next year or perhaps the following year. If the flowers are pollinated, then there will be fruits with seeds. If some of those seeds fall near this plant, then perhaps more plants will grow ... now you see how an invasion goes to the next step. And of course, some birds will eat some of the seeds and spread them to a new site ... and on and one ...

You did a good job of noting that there were few thorns on this particular multiflora rose. I've seen multiflora rose plants without any thorns at all. While we think of roses as being thorny, this one is less thorny than most, and sometimes entire stems are smooth.

Now ... back to identifying the plant ... you made a drawing of one compound leaf, and you posted a photo of some new leaves. If you look closely, there's something about the leaves that you missed in your drawing: little threadlike growths at the base of each stem. From all of your data, that one little detail is what made me certain that this is multiflora rose. It's always the little things that count!

Thank you for the information. That is really weird that we saw the beginning of an invasion! One question I have is that when we found it we didn't pull it out why? It could've stopped the invasion! Or so I thought. Thank you for the very detailed response, and answering the questions. Thank you for giving some constructive criticized on the drawing

I noticed after the picture posted that I forgot the part of the leaf and thank you for noticing. I don't know if I should talk to my teacher about removing the plant or just staking it or what but I am thinking about asking her if we should take it out.