(Jun 2007)  
 
R.banksiae .... again is an introduced rose, native to southern China, but well adapted to Indian conditions. In the Himalayas it is common in gardens near towns like Shimla and is a very popular plant in the Palni Hills and Nilgiri Mountains of southern India.
It is an extensive climbing bush capable of reaching roof tops. The branches are unarmed.

(Jun 2007)  
 
R. brunonii is the typical musk rose of the Himalayas, forming enormous climbing bushes at fairly low altitudes – around 1200-2400 meters, with hooked prickles and terminal clusters of many fragrant white to cream flowers. These are borne in tremendous bunches with that enchanting capacity of the musk rose, noted by the great rosarian, Graham Thomas, of wafting its fragrance in the air.
The foliage is also very handsome in some forms, especially the well know Brunonii ‘La Mortola’ where the leaves are a striking grey green.
We saw many bushes of R .brunonii on our 1982 trip, on the same footpath to the Valley of Flowers, at 1800 meters.

(Jun 2007)  
 
The ever blooming form of R. chinensis, R. chinensis semperflorens ,(Slater’s Crimson China) is commonly cultivated in Indian gardens. Some authorities consider that this rose has been cultivated in India for several centuries. Giant bushes could be found, almost growing wild, in the past.
A Mrs. Gore, who wrote ‘The Book of Roses – a Rose Fancier’ Manual’ in 1838 and which seems to rely heavily on Monsiuer Boitard’s “ The Manuel Complet’, 1836, says. “ in vast thickets of the beautiful Rosa semperflorens ( a native also of China) the tigers of Bengal and crocodiles of the Ganges are known to lie in wait for their prey”.

(Jun 2007)  
 
In many ways R. clinophylla is one of the most distinctive of wild roses. First of all it is perhaps the only tropical wild rose, and found in India in places as far apart as the north-eastern states like Manipur and in the Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam;  near Ranchi in  the new Jharkhand State  ( earlier it was in Bihar State); in  the Simplipal Wildlife Sanctuary in Orissa State; on the Eastern Ghat mountains in the border areas between Andhra Pradesh and Orissa states, as well as in Coorg area of  Karnataka State in south India.
Sir George Watt has commented on how typically the species appears in fairly large numbers in restricted localities, and thereafter is nowhere to be seen for hundreds of kilometers, where conditions are apparently quite similar, and then it appears again quite suddenly.
The species is an upright semi-climbing shrub, reaching 4-5 meters with five-petalled white flowers and prominent golden anthers with the distinctive fragrance of acetone—nail polish remover!
Another unusual feature of this species is the fact that it is semi-aquatic and favors locations like the islands in the River Ganges, which are submerged under the flood waters for six months in the year, leaving only the tops of the plants visible, or the banks of streams. ....
There is an interesting account of the discovery of this rose by an Englishman, appropriately named Mr. Rose, who was Superintendent of Post Offices in British India, and  who, while traveling in the course of his official duties, by boat, during the flood season, saw a rose coming out of the water. He collected the flower and some seeds, which later were identified as R.clinophylla.
We have two clones of this rose, one collected by my friend Mr. Narender Singh of Ranchi. He was on a hunting trip and had camped by a stream’s edge and early the next morning, just as the sun was rising, he saw to his amazement, white roses at the water’s edge.
The other form is the Bengal form, originally collected by the well known Bengal horticulturist, Mr. Shivaprasad Bannerjee. This was from an island on the River Padma which branches off from the River Ganges, near Murshidabad in West Bengal.
This species was carefully preserved by the late Dr. N.C. Sen and, at that time, was probably the only plant in cultivation.
The third form, also called R. lyelli, is found in the lower Himalayas around Kumaon, in Nepal, and in Mount Abu, a hill station at about 1200 meters in Rajasthan State, in western India....
It differs from the eastern Indian forms in bearing flowers in corymbs, rather than singly....
From the taxonomic point of view, Ghora and Panigrahi indicate that apart from the type species, R. clinophylla is found in 2 other  forms –R. clinophylla var. glabra and R. clinophylla var. parvifolia, where the leaflets are glabrous on both sides unlike the typical form where the leaflets are tomentose, woolly beneath. According to this authority, var. glabra has flower up to 5.5 cms. across, whereas in the var. parvifolia the flowers are much smaller – 2 cms , and the leaflets, as can be imagined, also smaller. The flowers of the typical R. clinophylla are in between in size.
A  word on the hips of R. clinophylla. These are round and woolly (tomentose) outside, and quite light in weight, confirming that the distribution of these is through water, which correspond to the typical flood plain habitat.
The narrow, shining evergreen foliage as well as the involucres which surround the buds are a feature of R. clinophylla. The specie is closely related to R. bracteata.

(Jun 2007)  
 
R. ecae, the typical golden rose of Afghanistan, .... extends into Kashmir and Ladakh. This is a wiry bush with flowers of a most attractive shade of bright yellow.

(Jun 2007)  
 
Kashmir and the higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh are also home to the golden rose of Persia, now Iran, R.foetida.

(Jun 2007)  
 
Apparently R.foetida Persiana may be a natural mutant, as Mr. Luciano Arcangeli reported sighting several plants in completely uninhabited parts of the extreme northern Himalayas, where a possible natural mutant with cerise red to crimson red flowers is also found.

(Jun 2007)  
 
R. gigantea .... is perhaps the largest of all wild rose with the most extensive growth, up to 20 meters, the giant stems thicker than a man’s arm, very large flowers up to 15 cms. across, and big round hips 2 ½ cms. across. The numerous prickles are also of giant size.
The five-petalled flowers are quite a deep yellow when opening, fading thereafter to ivory and cream. The yellow pigments seem dominant in the plant, as even the hips ripen to yellow rather than the more usual orange-red. And these hips are eaten by the locals. They are sold along with other vegetables and fruits in the bazaars in north-east India.
We found this plant at around 2200 meters on the footpath to Mount Sirohi, east of Ukhrul town in Manipur State, climbing into trees, which is their normal pattern of growth.
Sir George Watt, Surveyor General of British India, who first discovered this rose species in 1882, remarked that the flowers of the rose climbing through forest trees looked like golden magnolias, when seen from a distance! I like to think that the specimen we found was the same as did Sir George Watt !!!
Though Sir George Watt was the first to discover the species in Manipur, the name ‘R. gigantea’ was first published by Sir Henry Collett, through M. Francois Crepin.  Collett found the plant in the Shan Hills in Upper Burma, now Myanmar. 
There has been some speculation whether there is any genetic difference between these two finds, arising out of the fact that the buds and flowers of R.gigantea Collett are white, whereas the plants from Manipur, to which the discoverer, Sir George Watt, gave the name R. macrocarpa, have flowers which tend more towards a creamy yellow, especially in the bud stage.
The location where the rose was found in Manipur, is about 5^o further north, and altitude around 500 meters higher than the Burma specimen, which again may, or may not , be significant.
Interestingly, seedlings raised from seed collected in Manipur in the wild, show considerable variation in flower color especially in the bud stage. Some of plants bear buds of quite a dark shade of yellow, whereas others are cream. But these variations disappear at the fully open stage, where the flowers are cream. This perhaps indicates that speculation on whether the Manipur and Burma forms are genetically different are premature, in the absence of DNA studies.
Crepin himself considered the two to be the same rose. But we can hope that the Manipur type is at least marginally cold hardier.
A feature of this rose, apart from the flowers, is the lovely foliage, evergreen but a compelling shade of bronze as it unfolds, maturing to a shiny dark green. Absolutely free of black spot or mildew.
In my garden, in Kodaikanal, R. gigantea has climbed the cypress trees, which are quite tall, 15 meters and more, and in the flowering season – which extends form November to February—makes a very attractive display indeed.
 

(Jun 2007)  
 
R. laevigata is probably an introduced rose as it is a native of southern China.  But, curiously enough, also naturalized in southern U.S.A. One of the most beautiful of wild roses with large, up to 8 cms., white flowers with prominent golden anthers, it has perhaps the most beautiful of all rose foliage – trifoliate and a lovely shining green.  A very healthy plant which is widely adapted to even the conditions of the plains of India, thriving in places like Kolkata and Delhi.

(Jun 2007)  
 
R. leschenaultiana ....This rose species, one of the southernmost representatives of the musk rose clan ( the alternate name is R. moschata leschenaultiana) is endemic to the Nilgiri and Palni Hills, which are part of the Western Ghats range. It is an extensive armed straggler reaching up to 10 meters, forming impenetrable thickets in the native forests. The flowers are quite large by musk rose standards and are very showy, 7 1/2 cms. wide.
A  distinctive feature are the purple stems.
This species is named in honor of the French botanist, Leschenault de la Tour, who visited India in the 1810’s, collected many plants, and sent them to the island of Reunion and France.