Commonly found on the beaches and dunes of Cape Cod is the beach rose, Rosa rugosa. The leaves are distinctively wrinkled—rugosa is "wrinkled" in Latin. Wonderfully aromatic, the flowers are usually pink, but white is not at all uncommon.
Rosa rugosa is not native to Cape Cod or even to North America, but to Asia. It grows on, unsurprisingly, beaches and sand dunes in Japan, Korea, China, and parts of Siberia. It is believed to have been introduced to America from Japan—it is often used in gardens as an ornamental plant, and frequently crossed with other roses. Its presence on Cape Cod specifically is sometimes attributed to a shipwreck on Nauset Beach, from which the flower spread to other parts of the Cape.
As with the legend of Assateague horses [here and here] originating from the wreck of a Spanish galleon, the story of the shipwrecked roses is both romantic and plausible, but not definitive. I say plausible because rugosa has become an invasive plant in Europe and elsewhere, its spread aided by birds and mammals eating rose hips and excreting the seeds. It also spreads by runners, so over time even an isolated plant may give rise to a large thicket.
These thickets, while not native, do stabilise the dunes, and serve as a haven for rabbits and songbirds.
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