[5][6] Rosa rugosa is a suckering shrub which develops new plants from the roots and forms dense thickets 1–1.50 m tall with stems densely covered in numerous short, straight prickles 3–10 mm long.

The leaf is elliptical in shape with a rounded base or broadly cuneate with a leather feel, dark green top.

In late summer and early autumn, the plants often bear fruit and flowers at the same time.

[citation needed] This rose species was introduced to America from Japan in the mid-19th century; it was valued because it can tolerate salt water spray.

[5] In parts of the US the fruits are also occasionally called beach plums, causing confusion with the plant properly bearing that name, Prunus maritima.

It is also extremely tolerant of seaside salt spray and storms, commonly being the first shrub in from the coast.

Popular examples include 'Rubra Plena' (semi-double variant, with strong clove scented dark pink petals and dark green wrinkled leaves and large round orange-red hips),[3] 'Hansa' (very fragrant, red-purple double),[4] 'Fru Dagmar Hastrup' (pink, single), 'Pink Grootendorst' (pink, semi-double), 'Blanc Double de Coubert' (white, double) and the more common 'Roseraie de L'Haÿ' (pink, double),[14] which is often used for its very successful rootstock and its ornamental rose hips.

[15] In its native China, Rosa rugosa has been labeled as an endangered species due to a noticeable high decline in population rates of the flower, but in other continents where introduced it has become naturalized and is considered invasive.

[6] It can outcompete native flora and form dense thickets that completely cover large areas, thereby threatening biological diversity.

[17] Ten years later it was said to be "straying rapidly" and today it is naturalized on the entire coast of New England and in scattered locations around the Northeast and Pacific Northwest.