Rosa chinensis
| Rosa chinensis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A double-flowered cultivar | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Rosaceae |
| Genus: | Rosa |
| Species: | R. chinensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Rosa chinensis Jacq. | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Rosa chinensis (Chinese: 月季, pinyin: yuèjì), known commonly as the China rose[2] or Chinese rose,[3] is a member of the genus Rosa native to Southwest China in Guizhou, Hubei, and Sichuan Provinces. The species is extensively cultivated as an ornamental plant, originally in China, and numerous cultivars have been selected which are known as the China roses. It has also been extensively interbred with Rosa gigantea to produce Rosa × odorata, and by further hybridization the tea roses and hybrid tea roses.
It is a shrub growing to 1–2 m tall. The leaves are pinnate, have 3-5 leaflets, each leaflet 2.5–6 cm long and 1–3 cm broad. In the wild species (sometimes listed as Rosa chinensis var. spontanea), the flowers have five pink to red petals. The fruit is a red hip 1–2 cm diameter.
Varieties
Three varieties of the species are recognized in the Flora of China:[4]
- R. chinensis var. chinensis, originated in cultivation, with red petals
- R. chinensis var. spontanea, native to Guizhou, Hubei, and Sichuan, with red petals
- R. chinensis var. semperflorens (Curtis) Koehne, originated in cultivation, with dark red or purple petals
Uses
Cultivars developed from Rosa chinensis have been important in the breeding of many modern garden roses by providing the repeat-blooming characteristic, although this is not a feature of the wild species.[5]
18th-century painting of two cultivars
A Rosa chinensis cultivar
Rosa chinensis 'Viridiflora', in which the petals are replaced with leaves (phyllody)
See also
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rosa chinensis. |
- ↑ "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species". Retrieved 28 December 2014.
- ↑ "BSBI List 2007". Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-02-25. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
- ↑ "Rosa chinensis". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
- ↑ Flora of China: Rosa chinensis
- ↑ Phillips, R.; Rix, M. (2004). The Ultimate Guide to Roses: A Comprehensive Selection. Macmillan. ISBN 1-4050-4920-0.