Book  (Sep 1993)  Page(s) 18.  
 
('Labrador Rose'; 'Meadow Rose'; 'Smooth Rose') The English gardener-botanist William Aiton (one of the designers of the Kew Gardens) named this species, then newly brought from North America, in 1773 … it grows wild in the cold north-east regions of North America. Hardy, thornless, once-blooming.

Book  (1988)  Page(s) 136.  
 
location 128/1, 146/9+16; R. blanda Aiton, ASH-ROSE, LABRADOR-ROSE, HUDSON BAY ROSE, CINNAMOMEAE, eastern North America, 1773, whitish pink, single, good fragrance, medium size, solitary or cluster-flowered, moderately blooming, vigorous, bushy, branched, arching, few prickles, medium green medium size matte leathery foliage, 7-9 leaflets, orange-red small-medium rounded to urn-shaped matte-glossy fruit, upright + extended persistent sepals, many hips

Book  (1984)  Page(s) 100.  
 
Rosa blanda /Rosa blanda Ait. /syn Rosa fraxinifolia Lindl non Borkh./ Rosa solandri Tratt./ ‘Rose du Labrador’ = Amérique du Nord orientale, introduit en 1773. Cette espèce pousse dans les situations humides ou rocheuses… Ses tiges presque lisses la rapprochent de Rosa pendulina: elles ne portent, et seulement pendant leur jeunesse, que des cils. Les revers des feuilles sont finement velus. Les stipules dilatées (2,5cm de largeur) rendent ce rosier particulier…

Website/Catalog  (1982)  Page(s) 32.  
 
Rosa Blanda Medium sized, lax shrub with single, pink flowers and pale, green leaves. Round red heps. Almost thornless. 1773. F. (S) 5 x 4

Book  (1981)  Page(s) 175.  
 
ROSES WITHOUT THORNS:
R. blanda. Among the seedlings, which are quite easy to obtain from this species, plants are often found with soft bristles which cannot really be regarded as prickles; profuse growth; as a consequence only suitable where there is ample room for it.

Book  (1981)  Page(s) 67.  
 
Rosa blanda Ait. A vigorous N. American species with prickles only at the base of the shoots. It is very frost resistant and so could be useful for breeding in N. America and Canada.

Book  (1981)  Page(s) 272-273.  Includes photo(s).
 
R. blanda Ait. Related to R. pendulina. Shrub to 2m./6.6 ft. high, stems slender, brown, nearly unarmed, the scattered, straight prickles quickly drop, leaflets 5-7, elliptic to obovate-oblong, dull greyish-green, pale beneath and puberulent, coarsely and simply serrate; flowers 1-3 together, pink, 3-5cm./1.2-2 in. across, May-June; pedicels and calyx bald; fruits globose or sometimes ellipsoid, 1 cm./0.4 in. thick, red, 2n=14 (21,28). WR 104; BB 1966; GSP 234. (= R. fraxinifolia Lindl.; R. solandri Tratt.). E. N. America; grows in wet, stony places. Variable. 1773.

Book  (1976)  Page(s) 111.  
 
R. blanda Ait.
- Hort. Kew., II (1789), 202
(R. virginiana blanda Koehne, R. fraxinifolia Lindl. non Borkh., R. solandri Tratt., R. subblanda Rydb., R. fraxinifolia blanda Ser., R. gratiosa Lunell, R. blanda pubescens, R. b. glabra Crép., R. blanda nuda Schuette, R. blanda var. typica C. K. Schneid.)
Büsche: 2 m hoch, Triebe fein, fast ohne Stacheln, nur junge Triebe mit geraden Stacheln, die später abfallen.
Blätter: 5 bis 7 Blättchen; Blättchen elliptisch bis umgekehrt eiförmig, matt, graugrün, Unterseite heller und fein filzig, die Ränder einfach grob-gesägt.
Blüten: 1 bis 3 zusammen, 5 bis 6 cm breit, rosa. Blütenstandachse und Blütenstiele kahl; Kelch kahl. Blütezeit Mai/Juni.
Früchte: kugelförmig, machmal ellipsoid, 1 cm im Durchmesser, rot.
Verbereitungsgebiet: Nordamerika (Neufundland bis New York und im Westen von Wisconsin bis Illinois).
In den USA kennt man diese Rose unter dem Namen "Labrador-Rose" und "Hudson-Bay-Rose", sie wird als Zierstrauch angepflanzt. Es werden einige Formen und Hybriden dieser Rose kultiviert...

Book  (1966)  Page(s) 45, plate 59.  Includes photo(s).
 
Rosa blanda, Labrador Rose Shrub rose
Native to North America. A very hardy, slightly coarse shrub rose, about 6 ft tall, which is well-suited for forming a shelter hedge round the garden of a country cottage. Single, pink flowers with yellow stamens and bright red hips.

Website/Catalog  (1949)  
 
"ROSA BLANDA - a completely thornless wild rose picked up from Quebec. Single, pale pink flowers, attractive red stems in winter, like dogwood, taller than Macounii, and much more erect in growth. Of interest to rose breeders, for trial as understocks, and for planting in parks."

Percy Wright Catalogue - Hardy and Semi-Hardy Roses - ca 1949 p.5