Website / Catalog  (2009)  
 
Rosa bourboniana Desportes.

Habitat : Cultivated throughout India, particularly in Uttar Pradesh on commercial scale, for rose water.
[Name in] Ayurvedic : Taruni, Desi Gulaab, Baaraamaasi, Cheenia-Gulaab. (Flowers—usually purple.)
Siddha : Rojapoo (Tamil).

Action : Fruit—applied to wounds, injuries, sprains, foul ulcers.

Article (website)  (Sep 2008)  
 
Rosa bourbonia/Edward Rose
Rosa bourbonia absolute is to my knowledge only extracted in India most of which comes from South India in the state of Tamil Nadu. The deciduous shrub is also grown extensively in Rajasthan but its main use is for the production of attar, gulkand and rose water with a small amount of essential oil also being produced in that dry desert region.
The absolute has distinct olfactory characteristics from Rosa damascena and Rosa centifolia in that it presents a more ambery, green honeyed note intermingled with its rich roseaceous heart note. One can distinguish something of the beauty of the Rose Leaf Absolute in its bouquet. The tenacity is very good with a soft delicate radiance.
It can be used in natural perfumery in much the same way as Rosa damascena and Rosa centifolia absolutes but will add its own unique quality to the composition.

Book  (2006)  Page(s) 77.  
 
Graph: Flower production...under Faisalabad climatic conditions. Rosa borboniana. [March 22 blooms, April 33, May 25 - versus r. centifolia which bloomed around the whole year]

Book  (2006)  Page(s) 113-114.  
 
R. borboniana

Percentage Composition of the Components Identified through Gas Chromatography in Essential Oil of Rosa Extracted through Hexane Solvent Extraction.

Citronellol 27.231
Methyl Eugenol 2.534
Geraniol 1.364
Geranyl Acetate 4.235
Phenyl ethyl Alcohol 40.234
Linalool 1.243
Nerol 0.456
Benzaldehyde 1.020
Benzyl Alcohol 5.254
Rhodinyl Acetate 5.364
Citronellyl Acetate 2.458
Benzyl Acetate 1.257
Phenyl ethyl Formate 2.354

Percentage Composition of the Components Identified through Gas Chromatography in Essential Oil of Rosa extracted through Ether Solvent Extraction

Citronellol 21.789
Methyl Eugenol 2.131
Geraniol 1.432
Geranyl Acetate 4.234
Phenyl ethyl Alcohol 43.145
Linalool 0.979
Nerol -
Benzaldehyde 1.972
Benzyl Alcohol 4.351
Rhodinyl Acetate 2.498
Citronellyl Acetate 1.234
Benzyl Acetate -
Phenyl ethyl Formate -

Article (website)  (13 Jun 2005)  
 
The use and demand of rose petals is increasing day by day. Its exports are on the rise thus providing foreign exchange. Out of the indigenous roses that are used, the most popular and common variety are gulkandi, gulab or baramasi. Due to its commercial demand it is extensively planted in the plains of Sindh and Punjab, particularly in Hyderabad and Chkawal districts.
A variety of desi gulab (local rose) known in the west as rosa edouard, is pink, highly fragrant and flowers profusely in spring season. It is used mainly for making garlands, oil, water and conserve (Gulkand). It is also used as a rootstock for the propagation of modern roses.

Article (website)  (2004)  
 
Dans son livre Roses at the Cape of Good Hope, Gwen Fagan relate les propos du Dr. B. P. Pal, fondateur de l'Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding selon qui des roses portant ce nom avaient été cultivées autrefois à grande échelle en Inde pour la production de produits parfumés au même titre que les roses de Damas. Selon Pal encore, cette culture était en régression. Par la suite elles ont également été utilisées comme porte-greffes, mais leur sensibilité aux maladies fongiques les a fait abandonner progressivement.
Les mêmes roses sont cependant toujours utilisées en Inde pour l'ornementation des temples. Odile Masquelier, de roseraie de La Bonne Maison, à La Mulatière, près de Lyon m'a précisé que deux roses légèrement différentes par leur couleur y étaient utilisées à cet usage. Gwen Fagan précise également qu'il existe bien deux 'Rose Edward' en Inde, l'une formant un arbuste un peu plus haut que l'autre. Elle recense 'Rose Edward' et la photographie aux Seychelles, à l'Île Maurice, au jardin de Patraia près de Florence (Italie) et bien entendu en Afrique du sud.¨

Translation:
In her book Roses at the Cape of Good Hope, Gwen Fagan recounts the words of Dr. B.P. Pal, founder of the Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding, according to whom roses having this name [Rose Edouard] had been grown on wide scale in India for the production of perfume in the same manner as Damask roses. Again according to Pal, this culture is in decline. Subsequently, they have also been used as understock, but their susceptibility to fungal diseases has led to this being abandoned.,
The same roses, however, are still used in India to decorate temples. Odile Masquelier of the rose garden La Bonne Maison, at La Mulatière near Lyon told me that two roses slightly different in colour were used for this purpose. Gwen Fagan also states that there are two 'Rose Edward' in India, one forming a shrub slightly higher than the other. She identifies 'Rose Edward' and photographs it on the Seychelles, Mauritius, the garden Patraia near Florence (Italy) and of course in South Africa.

Book  (2001)  Page(s) 450.  
 
Rosa x borboniana Desp., Ros. Gall. (1828) 106.
Rosa canina borboniana Thory ex Redouté, Roses 3 (1824) 105; R. borbonica L. Chaix in Fl. des serr. 7 (1851) 77.
R. x borboniana is a hybrid: R. chinensis Jacq. x R. damascena Mill.
Edward rose; German Bourbon-Rose; Hindi cheeniagulab, desigulab, baramasi.
For the use of flowers cultivated in India (Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Bengal, Mysore).
Ref.: Singh 1970, 175; Singh & Deolia 1963, 76; Singh et al. 1963, 451 pp.; Wealth of India 9, 1972.

Book  (Nov 1994)  Page(s) 131.  
 
The name Bourbon was given to the race because the first plant was a chance seedling found on the Île de Bourbon (Île de Réunion) in 1817, growing in close proximity to both its parents. It became known as 'Rose Edward' in the adjacent island of Mauritius. Seeds were sent to Paris and presumably the best one raised was called 'Le Rosier de l'Île Bourbon'... In its second generation it was named and distributed in France around 1823, reaching England about two years later.

Book  (Jun 1992)  Page(s) 102.  
 
Rose Edouard ('Rose Neumann', 'Rose Dubreuil') Bourbon. Perichon/Neumann, 1821. From the red 'Tous-les-Mois' (DP) x R. chinensis 'Parson's Pink'. The author cites information from different sources and sorts out the confusion around this and other roses similarly named [see Source]... 'Rose Edouard' is the plant, or clones of the plant, found by Mons Perichon among his hedgelings that fateful day on the Îsle Bourbon. Cuttings of this were imported to France by Mons Neumann... Bright pink, shaded... The name 'Rose Edouard' (in remembrance of Mons Edouard Perichon, late settler)...

Book  (1988)  Page(s) 125.  
 
Dr. Pal considers roses most suitable for perfume today [1988] are 'Bussora' and 'Rose Edouard', while 'Gruss an Teplitz', a crimson rose of China derivation, has been used for experimental purposes.