''Rosa'' × ''odorata'' or ''Rosa odorata'' is a

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

flowering plant of the genus ''

Rosa Rosa or De Rosa may refer to: People *Rosa (given name) * Rosa (surname) *Santa Rosa (female given name from Latin-a latinized variant of Rose) Places *223 Rosa, an asteroid *Rosa, Alabama, a town, United States * Rosa, Germany, in Thuringia, G ...

'' native to

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

southwest China Southwest China () is a region in the south of the People's Republic of China. Geography Southwest China is a rugged and mountainous region, transitioning between the Tibetan Plateau to the west and the Chinese coastal hills (东南丘陵) and ...

, whose taxonomy has been confused. It has been considered a

of ''

Rosa gigantea ''Rosa gigantea'' is a species of rose native to northeast India, northern Myanmar and southwest China (Yunnan) in the foothills of the Himalaya at 1000–1500 m altitude. It is sometimes considered to be a variety of ''Rosa odorata'', as '' ...

'' and ''

Rosa chinensis ''Rosa chinensis'' (), known commonly as the China rose, Chinese rose, or Bengal rose, is a member of the genus ''Rosa'' native to Southwest China in Guizhou, Hubei, and Sichuan Provinces. The first publication of ''Rosa chinensis'' was in 1768 b ...

'', or as a quite rare wild species that includes ''R. gigantea''. The wild forms are cultivated to some extent.

Cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

s were developed in China in ancient times from ''R. chinensis'' crosses, and these have been important in the ancestry of the tea-scented China roses, also called tea roses, and their descendants the

hybrid tea rose Hybrid tea is an informal horticultural classification for a group of garden roses. The first hybrid tea roses were created in France in the mid-1800s, by cross-breeding the large, floriferous Hybrid Perpetuals with the tall, elegant Tea roses. T ...

Varieties

Four

varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

of the species are recognized in the ''Flora of China'':Flora of China: ''Rosa odorata''
/ref> * ''R. odorata'' var. ''odorata'', with white or pink-and-white petals * ''R. odorata'' var. ''gigantea'', see ''

'', with white petals * ''R. odorata'' var. ''pseudoindica'', with yellow or orange petals * ''R. odorata'' var. ''erubescens'', with pale pink petals

Cultivars

The

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

''R. odorata'' 'Mutabilis' is widely cultivated, and is notable for the fact that the blooms change colour from yellow to pink. Growing to tall and broad, it is a lax, thornless shrub. It prefers an open position in full sun. This cultivar has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

. Other cultivar names include 'Bengal Crimson' and ''Bengal Beauty''.

References

* odorata Flora of China Medicinal plants Hybrid plants {{rosa-stub