History of Roses: China Roses: Part 2

By Jerry Haynes

Benefits of the China Roses

A gene in the China roses is thought to be responsible for repeat or
perpetual (remontant) blooming, from early or mid-summer to late
autumn (depending on the climate). Until their introduction, the only
cultivated roses with any repeat bloom were the Autumn Damasks. The
increased productivity of bloom was realized at the second cross of the
China rose genome.

The China Rose also brought a change to the form of the flower. The
high centered exhibition rose owes its form to the China genes. The
China Roses also brought the rose world slender buds that unfurl when
opening.

Rosa indica var. vulgaris
The Chinas brought a new dimension to the color range in roses. The
Chinas have a unique aspect of defying the color principles
commonplace with roses before that time. They have the unusual
peculiarity of darkening with age. Most of the rose colors up until that
time faded with age. However, a China Rose may open yellow, then
blend to crimson through gradations of orange and pink. This is the
case with 'Mutabilis'. The introduction of the Chinas widened the color
range to include shades of yellow and a deep crimson that were not
known to European garden roses before that time.

Finally, the China Roses broadened the range of the scents of roses. New blends became apparent when the Chinas
hybridized with other roses. In A Fragrant Year, Helen van Pelt Wilson and Léonie Bell state that Chinas are only
vaguely scented on their own. They remark that they are able to detect the fragrance of nectarine in 'Old Blush'.
They go on further to say that 'Old Blush' gave a pepper smell to some of its offspring; in others a fruity smell was
heightened. They believe that 'Parsons’ Pink China' and 'Slater's Crimson China' had little scent. The mating of
some China roses with fragrant European roses produced a pronounced fruity bouquet, notably nectarine or
raspberry, that can be found in the Bourbons.

Hurst’s research uncovered a vitally important characteristic pertaining to repeat flowering: this capacity resulted
from a recessive gene, found only in the China roses. Hurst believed that this trait was the product of a mutation,
yet it has been consistently found among cultivated Chinese roses. He also deduced that growth habit and
flowering period were closely linked Mendelian characters, dwarf form and repeat flowering being coincident, and
that their determining genes were found on the same chromosome. Martyn Rix, collaborator on The Quest for the
Rose (BBC) and the Pan Garden Plants Series of books with Roger Phillips, notes that sports of China rose
demonstrate this linkage, with dwarf sports of once-flowering climbers showing repeat-flowering,
climbing sports of repeat-flowering dwarfs being “sparing of second crops.”

The China Roses have a mysterious origin. Although there is no evidence of how they were developed, they are the
product of a rich culture of ingenious people. They were not seen in Western art before the tenth century, were not
a part of mythology, and little is known of their history. What we do know is that they were cultivated for many
centuries in China.

The value of the China Rose should not be underestimated. Graham Thomas believes that the China Roses are the
species upon which modern roses are built.
An early botanical specimen of a Crimson China named 'Chineeshe Eglantier Roosen' by Gronovius in 1733, was
later painted and named Rosa chinensis by Jacquin in 1768. This rose was actually a cultivated variety and not the
true species as the name would suggest. Graham Thomas states that our Four Stud Chinas may all be hybrids of the
Tea rose, Rosa gigantea with Rosa chinensis. He believes that the 'Old Blush' and 'Slater's Crimson China', also
known as Rosa chinensis semperflorens are closely related to Rosa chinensis, whereas 'Hume's Blush' and 'Parks'
Yellow' are more infused with Tea Rose. Dr. Hurst stated that he knew of two varieties of 'Old Blush', the Pink
China. One variety was described as common; the other was noted as having more petals, a brighter color, and a
sweet scent. Graham Thomas writes that his pink variety may be nearly unadulterated China, whereas some of the
coppery forms of 'Old Blush' are probably infused with Tea Rose.

The 'Slater's Crimson China' also has variations. Dr. Hurst noted a graceful, short climber at the Gravereaux
collection at La Roseraie de l'Haÿ, which he felt was a close descendent of the wild 'Crimson China', bearing
single cherry red blooms. The true species rose, which has changed our rose breeding so profoundly, is believed to
be Rosa chinensis spontanea. Hurst stated that this rose was found and collected by Augustine Henry in 1885,
while in Central China. The rose was later found and photographed in 1983 by Japanese botanist Mikinori Ogisu,
in the Ichang Gorge of the Yangtse Kiang River. The rose bears rich single pink flowers which mature to deep
crimson, and is described as being like a rambler. (There are pictures of the rose in The Graham Stuart Thomas
Rose Book and in The Quest for the Rose by Phillips and Rix.) Martin Rix described a remarkable population of the
species roses, which Mikinori found in other parts of the same area (Sichuan) where the rose was found initially:
"The flowers were not only the deepest red, but all shades of pink and buff through to nearly pure white, the plants
both climbing high into trees, and forming arching shrubs in the open." (From the Roses Anciennes en France
newsletter, Autumn 1998) Peter Beales has described the Chinas as having chameleon qualities. 'Slater's Crimson
China', usually semi-double with two or three rows of petals, has been known to bear single flowers; sometimes
one may even be pink. In any case, 'Slater's Crimson' and 'Old Blush' are closely related to one another.

A real mind twister exists with what is named Rosa indica. Dr. Hurst noted
that Peter Osbeck, a pupil of the great Swedish botanist Linnaeus, discovered
Rosa indica in 1750, while in Canton. It is noted in Linnaeus' handwriting that
'Blush Tea China' was his own specimen plant of Rosa indica. The single
crimson China portrayed as Rosa indica by Redouté is not Linnaeus' blush
colored rose. Rosa chinensis is the same rose as Lindley's Rosa indica;
however, Graham Thomas and Dr. Hurst do not mention Redouté's version of
Rosa indica as being Rosa chinensis. Krussman believes Redouté's rose is
Rosa chinensis sanguinea, also known as 'Bengal Crimson'.

Graham Thomas is uncertain of this rose's origin. He contemplates that it is

either a sport or a rose that is derived from an ancient hybrid of Rosa
chinensis. Rosa chinensis sanguinea, 'Bengal Crimson', is a single China,
whose color varies from light to dark crimson. It does not display the same
color gradations that are found in either Rosa chinensis spontanea or
'Slater's Crimson'. Redouté also painted a rose labeled Rosa indica, La
Rosa indica Bengale bichonne. Graham Thomas notes that this double rose may be
'Slater's Crimson China', also known as Rosa chinensis semperflorens, and Le
‘Rosier du Bengale’. It is generally recognized that Redouté's Rosa indica vulgaris, also known as ‘Common
China’, is 'Old Blush'. In any event, several Chinas were named 'Bengal Roses' because they reached Europe via
Bengal. Roy Shepherd notes that Slater even distributed his Crimson China under the name 'Bengal Rose'.

We are still searching for the links between these Bengal or China roses. The incredible gift of the infusion of
China genetics may overshadow their origins, which have been locked in secrecy or lost over the centuries.