Article (newsletter)  (Nov 2017)  Page(s) 17-18.  Includes photo(s).
 
Wilson ....discovered the actual species, now named R. roxburghii f. normalis. He had observed it as early as 1903 and saw it again and again in his several Chinese expeditions. The bush grew abundantly along trails and roads in semi-arid riparian places of western Sichuan. Like the thickly double variety, the single species bears seed purses that imitate the husks of chestnuts. Unlike other roses, its bark is flaky, and its number of leaflets may be as many as fifteen “arranged in a brushed and combed style,” writes Harkness, “not easily forgotten.” Either form becomes a decoration in the garden.

Article (magazine)  (1 Jun 2015)  Page(s) 282.  
 
Rosa subgen. Platyrhodon (R. roxburghii and R. praelucens Bijh.) is not resolved as monophyletic in our plastid analyses. While R. roxburghii is resolved as an independent lineage in both our plastid and nuclear analyses, R. praelucens is supported as a member of the Cinnamomeae clade in our plastid analyses. We consider the diploid R. roxburghii as a typical member of R. subgen. Platyrhodon

Book  (Feb 2009)  Page(s) 244, 245(photo).  Includes photo(s).
 
Rosa roxburghii normalis Rehder & Wilson/’Single Chestnut Rose’: Rosiers botaniques. Introduit en 1908… grandes fleurs simples et parfumées, dont la teinte est très variable, allant du blanc au rose. Les tiges peu épineuses se desquament en vieillissant et sont revêtues d’un feuillage qui peut de 9 à 19 folioles mates… Ce rosier est l’espèce sauvage dont est dérivée Rosa roxburghii. Comme souvent, la forme double a été introduite avant que ne soit trouvée l’espèce simple originelle.

Website/Catalog  (2006)  Page(s) 103.  
 
R. roxburgii Tratt. = R. microphylla Roxb. ex. Lindl.- Hedgehog-Rose.; China, Japan
- var. forrestii (Focke) comb. nov. = f. normalis Rehd. et Wils. = R. forrestii Focke - China, 1908; not available in the Europa Rosarium Sangerhausen

Book  (1 May 2003)  
 
Rosa roxburghii Trattinnick, Ros. Monogr. 2: 233. 1823.
Rosa microphylla Desfontaines var. glabra Regel.
Shrubs diffuse, 1–2.5 m tall. Bark gray-brown; branchlets ascending-spreading, purple-brown, terete; prickles paired at nodes, mostly straight, to 5 mm, somewhat flat, abruptly narrowing to broad base. Leaves including petiole 5–11 cm; stipules mostly adnate to petiole, free parts subulate, margin glandular-pubescent; rachis and petioles with scattered small prickles; leaflets 9–15, elliptic or oblong, rarely obovate, 1–2 × 0.6–1.2 cm, glabrous, abaxially with prominent veins, conspicuously reticulate, base broadly cuneate, margin acutely simply serrulate, apex acute or rounded-obtuse. Flowers solitary, or 2 or 3 and fasciculate apically on branches, 4–6 cm in diam.; pedicel short; bracts 2 or 3, small, margin glandular-pubescent. Hypanthium depressed-globose, densely bristly. Sepals 5, usually broadly ovate, abaxially densely prickly, adaxially tomentose, pinnately lobed, apex acuminate. Petals 5, slightly fragrant, pink to rose-purple or reddish, obovate. Carpels on projected torus at base of hypanthium; styles free, not exserted, shorter than stamens, pubescent. Hip green-red, depressed-globose, 1.5–2 cm in diam., densely prickly, with persistent, erect sepals. Fl. Mar–Jul, fr. Aug–Oct.
Mountain forests, thickets, slopes, stream sides, also cultivated; 500--1400 m. Anhui, Fujian, S Gansu, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, S Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Japan].
Two forms may be recognized: f. roxburghii, which has double or semi-double, reddish or pink flowers 5–6 cm in diam., and f. normalis Rehder & E. H. Wilson (in Sargent, Pl. Wilson. 2: 318. 1915), which has simple, pink flowers 4–6 cm in diam. The specific epithet was spelled “roxbourgii” in the protologue.

Article (magazine)  (2001)  Page(s) 393.  
 
R. roxburghii f. normalis Rehd. et Wils Ploidy 2x
Pollen fertility 65.8%
Selfed Fruit set 0%

Book  (Mar 1998)  Page(s) 11.  
 
R. roxburghii 'Normalis' discovered in 1908, single, pale pink flowers, not remontant

Book  (1997)  
 
The wild Chinese form of this species (f. normalis) was reintroduced by Roy Lancaster from the Yiba Shan in western Szechwan in 1981 (L.817). It has flowered, and is likely to prove very distinct from the Japanese form long grown in gardens, both in habit and foliage. The plants seen by Wilson in western Szechwan early this century were only 2-4 ft high, with obovate or narrowly ovate leaflets. The Japanese plants grow much taller and their leaflets are mostly elliptic or oblong-elliptic. The main difference, however, is that in the latter the leaflets are downy beneath. Plants of Japanese provenance can be distinguished as var. hirtula (Reg.) Rehd. & Wils.

Book  (1989)  
 
p288. In the mountains north of Dali
Between the mouth of the valley and the main road lie green grassy foothills which give way to cultivation as one approaches the road. Here are roses in abundance, Rosa roxburghii being especially common on the banks between the fields. The big rose-purple flowers were impressive but already the prickly hips were forming and we were told by Professor Wu that these, when mature, would be used locally to make a rather pleasant wine.

p308, Near Ya-an
At an altitude of 1,000m (3,280ft) we stopped in order to make our first examination of the native vegetation which was becoming increasingly varied. Rosa roxburghii was plentiful here, a robust dense-growing shrub 2-2.5m (6-8ft) high, and across, with ferny leaves and equally ornamental pale flaking bark on the older stems. Their crowning glory however, were the fruits, large yellowish, prickle-clad hips from whence the English names Burr or Chestnut rose originate. This is one of my favourite rose species in the garden where, because of its ultimate size, 4-5m (13-16ft) by as much across it requires plenty of elbow room. The fragrant flowers in May and June are large and rose-pink or rose-purple with a golden boss of anthers in the centre. The fruits when mature fall to form a thick carpet on the ground and smell of apples ripening in a loft. This rose is named after William Roxburgh, superintendent of the Calcutta Botanic Garden from where in 1793 to 1813, in whose garden this rose in a double form was first described, having been introduced there from a garden or nursery in Guangzhou (Canton). The wild single flowered rose of the name is represented by two races which have been referred to variety hirtula from Japan and forma normalis from China. In cultivation the Japanese version is most common and the more ornamental with larger leaves and leaflets and flowers of a paler colour. Recent introductions of seed from the Chinese form, however, have established this in cultivation; one in my garden, for instance, has flourished and recently flowered. The Chinese plant was collected by several of the famous plant hunters, including Forrest and Wilson who referred to it under the name of R microphylla”.

Book  (1988)  Page(s) 18, 19.  Includes photo(s).