Book  (1916)  Page(s) 342-343.  
 
Rosa xanthina Lindley. Shantung: Shushan, F. N. Meyer, August 23, 1907 (No. 21620, seeds only). Cultivated at the Arnold Arboretum, raised from seed of Meyer's No. 21620, with the single-flowered form of the two yellow-flowered roses found in China this is the one which agrees with Lindley's brief description....leaflets are obtusely and often doubly serrate and reticulate on the upper side, with few shining gland dots on the under side; the prickles are straight, flattened-subulate, 1.5 cm. long, very slightly dilated at base and very woolly. The nature of its prickles, the absence of setae, the large flowers and more prominent stipules distinguish this Rose from R. hugonis Hemsley.

Article (magazine)  (1915)  Page(s) 29-30.  
 
[After R. Hugonis] the next species to flower here, R. Ecae, is a very spiny shrub with small leaves and pale yellow flowers not more than an inch in diameter. It is a native of Afghanistan, where it is common on dry mountain ridges, and of Samarkand and although of some botanical interest it has little to recommend it as a garden plant in this region. In 1820 an English botanist found in a collection of Chinese drawings in London the picture of a double yellow Rose to which he gave the name of R. xanthina, and many years later the single-flowered form of this Rose was found growing wild in Mongolia by the French missionary David. English botanists have usually confused the Chinese Rose with R. ecae and it apparently had not been cultivated in the United States or Europe until 1908 when the Arboretum received from the Department of Agriculture seeds of this Rose gathered in China by its collector, Mr. F.N. Meyer. Both the single and double-flowered forms were raised from this seed and have flowered in the Arboretum this year. The flowers are larger than those of R. Ecae and bright clear yellow. These roses appear to be perfectly at home in the Arboretum, but it is too soon to speak of their value in North American gardens. The single and the double-flowered varieties are much cultivated in the gardens of Peking.

Magazine  (Jun 1913)  Page(s) 229-230.  
 
Association horticole lyonnaise Procès-verbal de l’Assemblée générale du samedi 17 mai 1913...
EXAMEN DES APPORTS. — Sont déposés sur les tables les produits suivants : — Par M. J. Laperriére, rosiériste à Champagne-au-Mont-d’Or (Rhône) : des tiges fleuries des espèces de Rosiers suivants : ....Rosa xanthina, espèce du Nord de la Chine assez rare dans les cultures ; en mai, nombreuses fleurs jaune. 
....A M. Laperrière, pour ses Roses, prime de 1^re classe
....M. Viviand-Morel, à son tour, fait quelques remarques bien à propos sur les Roses présentées par M. Laperrière ....il recommande aussi d’une manière toute particulière le Rosa xanthina aux professionnels qui s'occupent d’hybridation ; il estime qu’avec cette jolie Rose jaune à fleur simple on aurait des chances d’obtenir des bons résultats ....

 

Book  (2 Nov 1911)  Page(s) No. 227, 7-8.  
 
Seeds and plants imported during the period from October 1 to December 31, 1910:
The present inventory includes the material collected during the period from June to September, 1910, by Mr. Frank N. Meyer, the only agricultural explorer in the field, who was exploring the region which lies along the Zerafshan Valley and in the vicinity of Samarkand, Tashkend, Old Bokhara, the oasis of Merv, Chartchui, Andijan, Guldscha, Terek-Dawan, Osh, Kostakos, Kizil-Kurgan, and Khokan in Russian Turkestan, and the cities of Kashgar, Kan-Shugan, Ulukshat and Irkestan in Chinese Turkestan...The rose growers will be interested in the wild roses from this region (Nos. 29251 to 29258)...

Book  (2 Nov 1911)  Page(s) No. 227, 21-22.  
 
Seeds and plants imported during the period from October 1 to December 31, 1910:
28978 Rosa xanthina Lindl. From near Kulikalan, Samarkand, Turkestan. "(No. 1378a, July 10, 1910) A very spiny, shrubby rose, bearing in early summer an abundance of small, deep butter-yellow roses. Found on stony, sterile mountain slopes and in ravines at altitudes of 6,000 to 9,000 feet. Recommended for hybridization work to create perfectly hardy yellow roses and as an ornamental garden shrub for the northern United States." (Meyer)
28979 Rosa xanthina Lindl. From near Pasroute, Samarkand, Turkestan. "(No. 1379a, July 11, 1910) Apparently the same as the preceding, but no flowers could be found. Collected at 6,000 feet elevation." (Meyer)

Book  (1910)  Page(s) 339.  
 
[Under the heading Interesting Species and Hybrids not Classified.] Xanthina; a native of Siberia, very hardy; bright deep yellow single flowers.

Book  (1909)  Page(s) 272.  
 
Xanthina, also a yellow-flowered species, is attractive on account of flowers, foliage and spines; the latter are large and bright red. What abbears to be a double form, of this species has recently been introduced. It has the distinction of blooming a week or so in advance of any other rose and is apparently very hardy.

Magazine  (Jun 1908)  Page(s) 237.  
 
NOTES SUR LES ROSES DE CHINE (1)
... Groupe VII. — Spinosissimœ. — Deux espèces rentrent dans ce groupe. Notre commune R. spinosissima et R. xanthina; cette dernière venant de l’Afghanistan et introduite dans la culture par le docteur Aitchison.  ..... G. Nicholson
(Traduit par M. B. Bellefin, 26, cours Morand, à Lyon. Traductions anglaises, allemandes, italiennes et russes.)
(1) Journal of the royal hort. Society.

Book  (1902)  Page(s) 151.  
 
Species: R. XANTHINA, Lind.
Habit 1meter and higher, upright, well-branched, prickly, without glands. Prickles dense, straight, compressed at the base and much expanded. Foliage very close on flowering branches, 6-9 leaflets; leaflets oval-oblongue, serrated in saw-form; stipules very complete, sub-acute, oblong. Blooms solitary on short terminal branches, golden-yellow; short glabrous or hairy glandular peduncles; lanceolated sepals; free wooly styles, glabrous at the top. Fruits globular, on slim peduncles, glossy, crowned by reflexed sepals; ...hairy, later glabrous.
5658. Rosa xanthina (Lindley), wild rose
5660. Xanthina var. duplex (Hortorum), wild rose

Magazine  (1897)  
 
Sect. PIMPINELLIFOLIAE.
Rosa xanthina Lindl. (R. platyacantha Schrenk).
Hab. N. 1. Colline tra Iang-ju e Gniu-ju (Maggio-Giugno 1894); n. 40. Presso Fu-kio (Maggio 1894); n. 18. Gniu-ju (Maggio-Giugno 1893); n. 19. Mon-gia-juan (12 Aprile 1891); n. 11 e 36. Sul Lunsan (14 Giugno 1891); n. 39. Gniu-ju-san (15 Luglio 1891); n. 10. Pao-ki (Maggio 1895, legit Padre Ugo Scallan).
Obs. Cette espèce, qui est à fleurs jaunes et à odeur de punaise, rappelle beaucoup par certains échantillons d'herbier le R. pimpinellifolia L., et à un point tel que parfois la confusion est même possible entre les deux types. Dans le R. xanthina, les aiguillons prennent parfois en largeur des dimensions extraordinaires, ce qui arrive également dans le R. sericea Lindl. D'autre part, ses axes peuvent être complètement inermes.
Le R. xanthina paraît être en Chine assez fréquemment cultivé à fleurs pleines. Le n. 10 ci-dessus provient d'un pied cultivé. ....Crépin.