Rosa laevigata, also known as “Cherokee Rose,” is an evergreen climbing shrub belonging to the Rosaceae family. The surface of its fruit is reddish-yellow or reddish-brown with protruding brown spots, which are remnants of fallen prickles.
Its fruit has a disk-shaped flower on top, with a yellow column in the middle. The lower part tapers and is rather hard.
When cut open, the inner wall of the receptacle is slightly thick, containing numerous hard, small, drupelets, both of which are covered in light yellow fuzz. Named “Golden Cherry” due to its small, cherry-like fruits that turn yellow when ripe.
Originally from China, this plant grows in mountains, fields, stream banks, and shrub thickets at altitudes between 200 and 1600 meters.
It prefers warm environments and ample sunlight, not particularly demanding about soil but thrives best in loose, fertile, sandy soil rich in organic matter. Both asexual and sexual reproduction methods can be used for propagation, with the most common being cutting.
The Golden Cherry wine has a rich and full-bodied fruit flavor, with a balanced sweetness and acidity, giving it a unique style.
The Golden Cherry got its name due to the small, cherry-like size of its fruit, which turns yellow when ripe.
The Rose family’s evergreen climbing shrub, which belongs to the Rose genus, can grow up to 5 meters tall. Its small branches are robust with flat, curved thorns. Hairless when mature, these branches are glandular-pubescent in their youth but lose this trait as they age.
The leaves have a leathery quality and typically come in threes, though sometimes five, with a stem of 5-10 centimeters. The leaflets are ovate-elliptical, ovate or lanceolate and measure 2-6 centimeters in length and 1.2-3.5 centimeters in width.
The tips of these leaflets are either sharply pointed or roundly blunt, with rare tail-like tapering. The edges have sharp serrations, the top surface is bright green and hairless, while the underside is yellow-green.
In their youth, the leaflets have glandular hairs along the midrib, but these gradually fall off as they age. The leaflets’ petioles and leaf axis have thorns and glandular hairs.
The stipules are separate or fused to the base of the petiole, lanceolate in shape, with fine teeth on the edge that have glandular tips, and fall off early.
The flowers grow individually in the leaf axils and are 5-7 centimeters in diameter. The flower stalk is 1.8-2.5 centimeters long, occasionally reaching 3 centimeters, and along with the calyx tube, is densely glandular-pubescent, turning into a prickly texture as the fruit grows.
The sepals are ovate-lanceolate, leaf-like at the tip, with edges that are either shallowly pinnate or entire, often with prickly hairs and glandular hairs, and densely pubescent on the inside, slightly shorter than the petals.
The petals are white, wide and inverted ovate, with slightly concave tips. The stamens are numerous, as are the pistils. The pistils are free-standing and hairy, much shorter than the stamens.
The fruit is pear-shaped, inverted ovate, or rarely near-spherical and purplish-brown, with a dense covering of prickly hairs.
The fruit stalk is about 3 centimeters long, with persistent sepals. The blooming period is from April to June, and the fruiting period is from July to November.
The plant, Rosa laevigata, or Cherokee rose, prefers sun-facing mountainsides, fields, and shrubbery along streams, thriving at altitudes between 200 to 1600 meters. This plant loves a warm, humid climate and a sun-drenched environment.
It is highly adaptive, requiring an average annual temperature of 15℃ or above for normal growth and development, and can withstand low temperatures between -2℃ and -3℃.
It is not particular about soil, capable of growing in dry and barren grounds, but thrives best in deep, fertile, well-drained sandy loam. It grows optimally in neutral and slightly acidic soil. It is often found in the wild in the sunny, rocky shrubbery of abandoned mountainsides.
The main variety is the semi-double Cherokee rose (Rosa laevigata Michx.f. semiplena YüetKu). The flowers of this variety are semi-double, with a diameter of 5-9 centimeters and usually grow on sun-facing mountainsides.
The Cherokee rose is a shallow-rooted plant. It has a poorly developed main root but many lateral roots and fibrous roots. Most of its roots are distributed in the top 10-30 cm of soil.
The bud sprouts in late February, leaves unfold in early March, buds appear in early April, and it blooms from late April to early May.
The flowering period is relatively long, and the fruit matures in mid-October. Four-year-old seedlings enter the peak fruiting period, and theoretically, the economic lifespan of the plant is 15-20 years.
The propagation of the golden cherry tree can rely on both asexual and sexual reproduction, with cuttings being the most commonly used method of propagation.
Spring or winter cuttings can be used. During winter, fully enclosed and moist cuttings have a higher rate of success.
In October or November, select mature branches from the current year’s growth that are thick (between 0.5 and 0.8 cm in diameter), fully lignified, and free of pests or diseases. Cut off the top part and trim into 20 cm cuttings, each having at least 3 buds.
The bottom cut is made 0.2 cm below the nearest bud and shaped into a horse-ear-like slope. Bundle every 50 cuttings, then dip the bottom cut in a 500 mg/kg rooting powder (ABT) or 500-1000 µl/l naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) solution for 30 seconds.
After drying, insert the cuttings into a pre-prepared sandy soil bed with a row spacing of 12 cm x 7 cm.
After inserting, immediately step on the soil to compact it and water thoroughly. In winter, a bow-shaped plastic film tent should be added to the cutting bed to increase temperature and maintain humidity.
During the rooting period, keep the soil moist, water every 10 days, and maintain a relative humidity of about 80%. In severe cold weather, add 1-2 layers of grass curtains for insulation; at noon on sunny days, uncover the grass curtain and film to supply fresh air.
By early April, the cuttings start to sprout, and the bottom cut has formed healing tissue and begun to root. In mid to late April, remove the plastic tent and carry out weeding and fertilization management.
After 1-2 years of cultivation, when the seedlings are over 80 cm tall, they can be transplanted to the nursery.
Seed propagation takes place in September or October. When the fruit skin turns yellow-red, harvest the mature fruit, peel out the seeds, and sow immediately after drying.
Otherwise, store the seeds mixed with three times the amount of clean river sand, and screen out the seeds for row sowing in March or April the following year. On a prepared seedbed, open horizontal trenches with a row spacing of 20-25 cm, 1.5 cm deep.
Then, mix the seeds with wood ash and evenly spread them in the trench. After sowing, cover the seeds with grass for warmth and moisture retention. Use about 3 kg of seeds per acre.
In mid to late April, after the seedlings have sprouted, remove the grass cover and carry out weeding, fertilizing, and other seedbed management.
Generally, weed and loosen the soil 3-4 times a year, combined with two additional fertilizations. After 2 years of cultivation, when the seedlings are 80 cm tall, they can be transplanted to the nursery.
Select areas with deep, loose, fertile soil and good drainage, such as sandy loam, as well as places conveniently located for irrigation. Cuttings nursery should be established on flat terrain with abundant sunlight, water sources, and well-draining sandy soil.
After the site selection, deep plow the soil, apply enough base fertilizer, level and rake it finely. Create raised beds 1.3m wide with good drainage ditches around to prevent waterlogging.
Planting sites can be gently sloping, south-facing low mountain areas, hilly areas, or flatlands. You can also take advantage of spaces in front of or behind houses, courtyards, roadside, or beside ditches for scattered planting.
Prepare the land and dig holes in winter, and apply base fertilizer for planting.
Planting is carried out in early spring (February-March) or early winter (October-November). On the prepared planting site, dig holes at intervals of 1-1.5 meters and plant spacing of 60-70 cm.
Each hole should have a diameter and depth of 50 cm, and 5kg of manure or mixed soil fertilizer should be applied to each hole, which is then mixed with the bottom soil and covered with 10 cm of fine soil.
Then, plant one robust seedling per hole, making sure it is correctly and stably planted, with the roots well spread. The soil mound should slightly protrude above the ground after planting, and then water the plant once to establish roots.
Within 1-3 years after planting, weeding and fertilizing should be done in each season of spring, summer, and autumn; before the plants row-seal in the fourth year, weeding and fertilizing should be done in spring and autumn each year.
In spring and summer, use matured manure from humans and livestock or urea; in autumn, use matured barnyard manure or compost, add superphosphate, and the amount of fertilizer depends on the plant.
The fertilizing method is to dig a circular trench around the root, then apply fertilizer, and finally mound the soil to insulate, protect against cold, and prevent lodging. Stop weeding and tilling after the plants row-seal.
After planting, trim off dead branches, weak branches, densely growing branches, old branches, excessively growing branches, and branches infested by pests and diseases every winter.
For strong, long branches, conduct short pruning or light pruning (that is, cutting off 1/3 of the branch) to encourage more new branches and more flowers and fruits.
After each pruning, apply organic fertilizer once, and strengthen the management of fertilizer and water to achieve high yield.
After planting, water the seedlings in time during drought, and pay attention to drainage in the rain season to prevent water accumulation in the field.
Within 1-2 years after intercropping, short stalk crops or vegetables and other 1-2 year short stalk medicinal materials can be planted between rows.
Harvesting begins 2-3 years after planting. Harvest in September or October when the fruit skin turns yellow-red.
After harvesting, spread the fruit thinly to sun-dry until half-dry, then rub with a wooden board or shake in a bamboo basket to remove thorns, then sun-dry or kiln-dry to become a marketable product.
Roots are harvested in autumn or winter after fruit picking, removing the fibrous roots and soil, then sun-drying to become a marketable product.
The best cherries are large, free of impurities and mold, and yellowish-red. The best roots are dry, without stems, free of mud and sand, and without mold.
Powdery mildew tends to occur during the hot and humid summer season. It affects leaves, stems, and flower stalks. In the early stages of infection, young leaves twist and turn a light grey.
In the later stages, a layer of white powdery substance covers the leaves, stems, and flower stalks. In severe cases, the plants do not bloom and eventually die.
Prevention methods include spraying a 0.3-0.5 solution of Pometon or a 1000-fold solution of 50% Topaz during the early stages of infection; controlling the amount of nitrogen fertilizer to prevent excessive plant growth; and spraying a 1:1:100 solution of Bordeaux mixture every 7-10 days for 2-3 times after new leaves have grown.
This pest occurs during early July to August. Newly hatched nymphs crawl onto the surface of leaves, main veins, tender shoots, leaf stalks or the base of flower stalks, where they attach and cause damage.
Prevention methods include spraying an 800-1000-fold solution of 25% Imidan or a 1500-fold solution of 40% Lebaycid during the hatching period of nymphs; spraying 3-5 Pometon once during the dormant winter period and before bud break in early spring; and protecting and utilizing the beneficial ladybug, Cryptolaemus montrouzieri.
The bark of the root, which contains tannin, can be used to make catechu. The fruit can be used to make syrup and wine. The root, leaves, and fruit are all used in traditional medicine.
The root has blood-activating, stasis-resolving, wind-dispelling, dampness-removing, detoxifying, astringent, and insecticide effects. The leaves can be used externally to treat boils and burns. The fruit can stop diarrhea and has inhibitory effects on the influenza virus.
The golden cherry has high ornamental value. It can be cultivated in courtyards or gardens, or grown as a potted plant, where it can beautify the environment.
Golden cherry wine has a rich and full-bodied fruit flavor, with a moderate sweetness and acidity, giving it a unique style.
Peggie was once a high school mathematics teacher, but she set aside her chalkboard and textbooks to follow her lifelong passion for flowers. After years of dedication and learning, she not only established a thriving flower shop but also founded this blog, “Flowers Library”. If you have any questions or wish to learn more about flowers, feel free to contact Peggie.
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