Book  (1981)  Page(s) 111.  
 
it was only in 1873 that chronicles mention the result of a hybridization performed for didactic purposes by Paolo Baroni, Head Gardener of the Florence Botanical Garden. Baroni had succeeded in collecting a few seeds of R. banksiae alba-plena, and obtained three climbing roses with single flowers which gave rise to considerable interest, since up to that time only double varieties of R. banksiae had been introduced in Europe and not the true species. Baroni's seedlings were displayed at the International Horticultural Exposition in Florence in 1874; and according to the Bulletino della Reale Societa Toscana di Orticoltura in 1877, two of them were white, and one yellow.

Magazine  (2 Aug 1924)  Page(s) 73.  
 
In the Gardeners' Chronicle, January 5, 1878, page 22, was published a note by Dr. Fenzi of Florence, concerning three single-flowered (two white, one yellow) varieties of Rosa banksiae, raised in 1868 by the late Paolo Baroni, curator of the Botanic Garden dei Simplici, Florence, from seeds harvested from a double-flowered variety of this species. Dr. Fenzi's note indicates that these varieties were bearing every year a certain quantity of fertile seeds.
Some twelve years ago through the kindness of the late Professor Baccarini, directory of the Botanic Garden, I received two plants of these single varieties, one white, the other yellow coloured, and I planted them in my garden side by side. They are now covering a wall some metres high, facing east, and bear every year early in April a profusion of pretty, single, sweet-scented flowers, that are unfortunately ephemeral. But, strange to say, I have not been able to gather a fruit from those plants except after cross-fertilisation, which is strongly contrasted with the fertility noted above in the Botanic Garden of Florence.....

To give an idea of this difficulty I may state that from a quantity of seeds collected from fifty fruits last year and sown with every care in November in a greenhouse, only one plant has been produced; and I have only six plants representing the work of eight years. These are the results from the following crosses:—
2) R. Banksiae alba simplex x R. bengalensis fl. roseo pl.
3) R. Banksiae alba simplex x Fortune's Yellow

Magazine  (5 Jan 1878)  Page(s) 22.  
 
Single Banksian Rose.- A question was put some time ago in the Gardener's Chronicle, as to whether anything was known concerning the introduction of the single type of the Banksian Rose that had been remarked in a garden at La Mortola near Mentone. No answer having been made, I may suppose that little is known about this matter, and I venture to tell in a few words how single Banksian Roses have been obtained by Signor Baroni, head gardener of the old Botanic Garden dei Simplici in Florence. The following is an abstract of a paper that Signor baroni has published, at my request in the Bulletino della R. Società Toscana di Orticultura. It was in 1868 that Signor Baroni, remarking by chance in some double flowers if Banksian rose two or three stamens untransformed into petals, had an idea of taking away the petals in the centre of the flower to try if self-impregnation was possible. In the following October he had the pleasure of finding four fruits not bigger than a pea, and of a greenish yellow colour. Opening one of them, he found that one seed only filled all the cavity, and he took care to sow them at once. Three plants came up and grew quickly, notwithstanding having been cut down to the ground by frost in 1870 (strange to say, the double Banksians by their side were not affected), and the first flowers appeared in May, 1873, their umbels being composed of single flowers with five calycine segments, five petals, and a large number of stamens inserted in the calyx. One of the plants was yellow-flowered, the other two white. These three plants were shown in bloom at the International Exhibition of 1874 in Florence, and did not escape the remarks of many eminent botanists, who considered them to be a thing not seen before anywhere in Europe. In 1875 Signor Baroni planted two of the Roses in his garden, and they have grown since with great vigour, producing every year a certain quantity of seed. I may add, that it often happens in the neighbourhood of these plants that small Banksians come up in the open ground without any care. The single Banksian of La Mortola has had perhaps a similar origin. It is not likely that the single type has been introduced from China in recent years. E. O. Fenzi, Florence.

Book  (1874)  Page(s) 240.  
 
Esposizione Internazionale d’Orticultura in Firenze (1874)
Medaglie di Bronzo
.. Orto Botanico de’ Semplici. Rose Banksiae di seme.