It is sometimes treated as a subspecies of the closely related species Rosa sericea.

Beneath the petals are five sepals (or in the case of some Rosa sericea, four).

The flowers of most species have five petals, with the exception of Rosa sericea, which usually has only four.

Sometimes even the thorns can be treated as an attraction or curiosity, such as with Rosa sericea.

In some cases, unusual features may be considered to be of interest, such as the prominent and rather vicious thorns of Rosa sericea and cacti.