''Rosa soulieana'', or Soulié's rose (川滇蔷薇 chuan dian qiang wei), is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae, native to China (southern Anhui, Chongqing, Sichuan, Tibet, and Yunnan). Growing to tall by broad, it is an extremely vigorous,

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

shrub with very long, spiny branches, covered in masses of small, grey-green leaflets. In summer it bears many small single white roses, each with a lax central boss of pale yellow. The flowers have a light clove scent, and are followed in autumn by orange-red hips. In cultivation it can be trained as a

rambler Rambler or Ramble may refer to: Places * Rambler, Wyoming * Rambler Channel (藍巴勒海峽), separates Tsing Yi Island and the mainland New Territories in Hong Kong * The Ramble and Lake, Central Park, an area within New York City's Centr ...

. It is hardy, but prefers a position in full sun. The plant was collected in China by the French missionary and botanist Jean- André Soulié. who sent samples back to the

Vilmorin Vilmorin is a French seed producer. The company has a long history in France, where it was family-controlled for almost two centuries, and today exists as a publicly traded company owned principally by agro-industrial cooperative Groupe Limagrai ...

Collection in France around 1895. A plant was then sent to

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

in England in 1895.

Subtaxa

The following varieties are accepted: *''Rosa soulieana'' var. ''microphylla'' – Tibet, Yunnan *''Rosa soulieana'' var. ''soulieana'' – entire range *''Rosa soulieana'' var. ''sungpanensis'' – northern Sichuan *''Rosa soulieana'' var. ''yunnanensis'' – Chongqing, central Sichuan, northwestern Yunnan

References

soulieana Endemic flora of China Flora of Tibet Flora of South-Central China Flora of Southeast China Plants described in 1896 {{Rosa-stub