Book  (1981)  Page(s) 253-254.  
 
Rosa foetida Herm. Shrub, in its native habitat up to 3 m/10ft. high, in cultivation rarely more than 1.5 m./5ft; stems slender, brown, with few straight, unequally long prickles; leaflets 5-9, elliptic, 2-4 cm./0.8-1.6 in. long, downy glandular-serrate, vivid green above, puberulent and glandular beneath; flowers mostly solitary or in pairs, dark yellow, 5 cm./2 in. across, with strong, disagreeable scent. June; pedicel and calyx bald, sepals lanceolate, foliaceous; fruits globose, red, sometimes bristly, 2n=28.

(1975)  Page(s) vol 6, no. 2, pp. 5-6.  
 
Breeding for Yellow
Bernard C. Gardner
For too long a time I tried using R. Foetida as a pollen parent, in the hope of getting that unfading deep yellow color in a better rose. The seedlings always tuned out to be pale yellow or white. Quite unexpectedly, however, they were continuously flowering.

Book  (1971)  Page(s) 355, 357.  
 
R.foetida Herrm., Dissert. (l762) 18; R.Keller, Syn. Ros. Eur. Med. (1931) 753; Bouleng. in Bull. Jard. Bot. Etat Bruxelles XIII (1935) 189.— R.eglanteria L. Amoen. acad. V (1760) 220 et S. Nat ed. 10, II (1759)1062 et auct. mult, non L. Spec, PI. ed. 1.— R. lutea Mill. Card. Diet. ed. 8(1768); Ldb., Fl. Ross. 11(1844)73; Boiss., Fl. Or, II (1872) 671; Christ in Boiss., Fl. Or. Suppl. (1888)205; Crep., I.e. XXVII, 2 (1888) 101 et XXIX, 2 (l890) 9.- R.punicea Mill. 1. c.- R.bicolorJacq., Hort. bot. Vindob. I, tab. I (l770). - R. chlorophylla Ehrb., Beitr. z. Naturkunde II (1788). — R. eglanteria lutea Seringe in DC. Prodr. II (1825) 607.- Ic: Curtis, Bot. Mag. (1797) tab. 363; Jacq., I.e.; Curtis, Bot. Mag. (1808) tab. 1877; Willmott, Gen. Rosa II (1911) 267, et 269.
Shrub, small or medium-sized, 30—200 cm high, with long arcuately curved branches; prickles on turions numerous, erect or lightly curved, less abundant on branches, often mixed with thin pricklets and bristles
(sometimes glandular); flower -bearing branches often unarmed; leaves with 5—7 (on turions, 7—9) leaflets; leaflets small or medium-sized, rarely rather large, 8—25 mm long, narrowly elliptic to suborbicular, frequently with orbicular base, sometimes obovate with broadly cuneate base, weakly appressed -hairy above, hairy beneath along veins, usually bearing glands (in exceptional cases eglandulose), dark green, deeply and openly serrate-dentate, often with 4—7 teeth on each side and these in turn with 1—4 glandular denticles; petioles pubescent, with numerous subsessile glands and sparse pricklets; stipules narrow, the upper somewhat broadened, with divergent auricles. Flowers solitary, rarely 2 or few ebracteate; pedicels long (7 mm) [?] 1.2—3 cm, glabrous or velutinous -pubescent, smooth, rarely with few stalked glands; hypanthia semi-globose, often sparingly bristly; sepals shorter than petals, 1.3—2.2 cm long, glandular-hispid dorsally, with more or less long, lanceolate, entire or finely -toothed appendage, outer sepals often with small, linear, solitary lateral appendages, spreading after flowering, later erect; corolla large, 3—6.5 cm in diameter; petals yellow or the inner rufous -reddish; style free, short; stigma head densely hairy; fruit flattened -globose, red, with broad mouth, long -hairy at margin, crowned by long persistent sepals. June— July.
Caucasus: E. Transc. (obviously wild); Centr. Asia: Pam.-Al., T. Sh. Gen. distr.: Centr. Eur,, As. Min., Armenia, Iran., Afghanistan, Him. to India (apparently frequent in Centr. Eur., but only the escaped form). Described from a cultivated specimen. Type unknown.
Economic importance. Although this is a very ornamental plant, its cultivation is on the decline, presumably because of its unpleasant smell, reminiscent of bedbugs.
Note. Boulenger, 1. c. 190—191, thinks that this plant was introduced into cultivation in the remote past, possibly in the Middle Ages, as the result of crossing R. hemisphaerica Herrm. with R. myriacantha DC. If so, then all reports on the feral nature of R.foetida would refer to the plant in its escaped form. This would agree with the Soviet flora, at least insofar as the authentic R. foetida is concerned, which completely answers to the above description. Yet, we are not certain that there are no R.foetida in the Soviet Union. Judging by the information on the labels, we find it difficult to regard some of the Central Asian specimens as escapees. It appears that in Soviet Central Asia other truly wild forms, as yet insufficiently studied, belonging to the cycle R. xanthina Lindl. (mainly R. kokanica Rgl. — see above) are listed as R. foetida (= R. lutea).

Magazine  (Nov 1952)  Page(s) 4.trimester, p. 115.  
 
La variété à fleurs jaune d'or est également très belle.

Website/Catalog  (1949)  
 
"AUSTRIAN YELLOW - like Austrian Copper in all respects, except that the flowers are pure yellow."

Percy Wright Catalogue - Hardy and Semi-Hardy Roses - ca 1949 p. 8

Book  (Jan 1946)  Page(s) 31.  
 
R. foetida, Herrm. The Austrian brier has long been cultivated in Europe and is responsible for all the yellow colour in our Hybrid Tea and Pernetiana roses of today. The slender brown stems are often almost like those of a rambler. The large deep yellow flowers have an unpleasant odour and are followed by red globular fruits. The Austrian Copper rose is a colour variation with brilliant copper red petals that are yellow on the outside.

Magazine  (Feb 1944)  Page(s) 13.  Includes photo(s).
 
T. Bastard, qui prit la direction du Jardin des Plantes en 1807, en remplacement du créateur du Jardin, Merlet La Boulaye....T. Bastard découvrit le « Rosa foetida » sur les coteaux de la Loire. Ce rosier est très rare, disait Bastard, même dans son pays natal. Il le décrit dans son « Supplément à la Flore de M. et L. » et son nom lui fut donné à cause « de l'odeur félide des fruits lorsqu'on les froisse dans les doigls ».

Website/Catalog  (1942)  Page(s) 24.  
 
Species Roses
Austrian Yellow—A single rose of rich clear bright yellow. This is the famous Foetida to whose influence is due the amazing multicolors of the modern Hybrid Tea roses. The most brilliant of all yellow roses.. Four to six feet tall... $1.00

Website/Catalog  (1939)  Page(s) 84.  
 
Rosiers Capucines ... Capucine Jaune Simple, jaune vif, très florifère.

Book  (Jul 1938)  Page(s) 86.  
 
R. foetida, Austrian Brier - (Foetida means fetid or bad-smelling). Prickles straight, rather stout. Leaflets 5-7. flowers usually solitary, yellow. Fruit red.