Article (newsletter)  (May 2016)  Page(s) 4-5.  
 
....the roots of the Damask recedes even deeper into history to the fourth century. In October of 331, Alexander the Great wrote in his diary that upon entering the city of Babylon, he was showered with rose petals. As far as we know, only an autumnal Damask and R. fedtschenkoana bloomed in the fall of the year in that part of the world. (R. moschata is indigenous to Africa and southeastern Europe.) To be “showered” with rose petals implies a profusion, and while Fedtschenkoana has but five petals to a flower, the Damask has considerably more. It or both may have been used to flutter down upon the conqueror. It may be also because of this connection in honor of Alexander the Great that the ‘Autumn Damask’ has also been called “The Alexander Rose.”
.... recently some doubt has been cast onto the results of the 2000 DNA testing announcement. Turkish-Swiss professor of Eastern Studies and a rosarian, Behcet Ciragan at the 2014 WFRS Conference challenged the thoroughness of this study. Where, he asks, would the crossing of R. moschata x R. gallica with R. fedtschenkoana have taken place, given that neither of the first two roses are of central Asia? R. webbiana and R. beggeriana, he asserts, are also common in the general region of Fedtschenkoana and Rosa fedtshenkoana 4 can repeat their bloom. Indeed, according to some botanists, R. webbiana is virtually the same species as the latter. Why were these not analyzed?
....Belgian rose botanist and breeder Ivan Louette postulates that R. abyssinica is far nearer in traits to R. damascena than is the tentative R. moschata. The same is true for R. phoenicia and for the double pink R. pissardii, also known as ‘Nastarana’ and the Persian Musk Rose. And while three Phoenicia roses were used in the Iwata study, none of the other similar types were. 

Article (newspaper)  (Feb 2012)  Page(s) 2.  
 
Patricia Routley: Quatre Saisons. A very loose translation of this name would be quarter seasons, or four seasons. This very old rose has history in abundance. It was one of the first roses to repeat its flowering and it bridged the gap between the once-blooming European roses and the newer re-bloomers of the chinas and teas. DNA testing revealed its parentage as [R. moschata x R. gallica] x R. fedtschenkoana. It has many synonyms but the main ones are ‘Quatre Saisons’, ‘Autumn Damask’ and ‘Bifera’. The date is sometimes quoted as 1806 – and certainly by 1820. These early dates are complex and I do not have the old reference materials to double check them, so I am just going to enjoy the rose for its antiquity. ‘Quatre Saisons’ looks very much like the once-flowering damask ‘Trigintipetala’ (‘Kazanlik’) which is grown in Bulgaria for the perfume industry. The repeat-flowering damask ‘Quatre Saisons’ is also highly fragrant. Long sepals surround the bud and the blooms are eight centimetre orbs of clear pink crumpled petals, deeper in the centre and sometimes with a button eye. There is a yellow ring of stamens more or less visible depending on the fullness of the bloom. It flowers in clusters of blooms of great poise. The typical damask leaves are pale grey-green, oval to rounded, with simple serrations and are non glandular. Once you get your eye in on a damask leaf, you will be able to recognise them instantly. Canes are strong, long, arching and very branching, light green and there are numerous straight or slightly curved sharp brown thorns. The receptacle is oblong and narrows into the stem and there are long red hips which are a bit prickly. My bushes have suckered a little but stayed within their allotted space. This is one old rose that needs pruning to promote the new growth that will carry those repeating blooms. It also needs deadheading and cutting back a little during summer and if this is done every time you visit to smell the rose, it is possible to justify the name ‘Quatre Saisons’. I deadheaded my newer bush all last summer and it just kept producing. It grows about 2 metres high. Both of my bushes of ‘Quatre Saisons’ came from Bridgetown and that town has some superb old roses. Mrs. Lynne Joyce used to ride her horse around the hills of Bridgetown and told me of the properties with remnants of old roses that she would see on her way. She had struck her bush of ‘Quatre Saisons’ from the old plant at the back of Bridgedale House and gave me a spare pot of it. My second plant came from Eileen Giblett, high on the hill just south of Bridgetown. Eileen was a happy 84-year-old lady when I met her in 2007 and her mother had moved the plant from their Old Hill Farm property in 1937. I suspect that one of the my roses was originally a cutting of the other. These days I see Eileen’s face in every beautiful bloom of my ‘Quatre Saisons’.

Newsletter  (Nov 2011)  Page(s) 3.  
 
“Josephine’s Rose.” Josephine Hunsaker, a young girl, arrived in Oregon City with her family in 1852. The Hunsakers had followed earlier family members who were among the first to emigrate to the region. Josephine was sent to a Catholic boarding school near Ft. Vancover, Washington, across the Columbia River from Portland. Returning home for the winter holidays, she, as well as most of her family, incurred typhoid fever. When Dr. John McLoughlin arrived to attend to the sick family, he brought a cutting of a rose from his garden for Josephine. However, along with her brother, Josephine died in the spring. As a memorial, Mrs. Hunsaker planted the rose at the head of the children’s graves. It grows there still. This rose is ‘Autumn Damask’.
(This story is from Nancy Wilson, curator of the McLoughlin House in Oregon City.)

Book  (Feb 2009)  Page(s) 26.  
 
‘Quatre Saisons’/Rosa damascena var semperflorens:/Rosa bifera/’Rose des Quatre Saisons’/’Four Seasons’/’Rose of Castille’/’Castilian’/’Old Castilian’/’Autumn Damas’: Les rosiers de Damas. Origines, date d’introduction et parents non connus... C’est sans doute le plus ancien rosier remontant cultivé en Europe… NB: D’origine très ancienne, ce rosier a longtemps été pris pour celui qui était censé fleurir deux fois dans les antiques roseraies de Paestum. Il a été intensément cultivé pour la fleur coupée, en France, dans la région de Fontenay-aux-Roses, au début du XVIIIè siècle.

Article (magazine)  (2009)  Page(s) 31.  
 
'Quatre Saisons Continue'   (= R. x damascena bifera Regel)  Source RJBM [Réal Jardin Botanico Madrid] Chromosome Number 28

Article (magazine)  (2007)  Page(s) 170.  
 
..in spite of the introduction of so many species in other chinampas since the sixteenth century, two chinampa districts, Xochimilco and Chalco, have mainly stood out for flower production, and in that respect they have been instrumental in the efforts to uproot the ancient religion. Cempoalxóchitl [Tagetes] flowers are the most significant flowers of the prehispanic world either as a gift for naristocrats or for religious altars. After the conquest the Spaniards brought the Castilla rose to compete with and displace these sacred flowers. This rose is associated with the cult of the Virgin of Guadelupe who appeared in the same place as the old Tonantzin, our mother for the natives, who had a temple on a mount three miles from Mexico to the north, according to Clavijero, where the sanctuary of the Virgin of Guadelupe is located at present.

Article (magazine)  (2006)  
 
Trichomes of R. x damascena ‘bifera’ have non-branched and short stalks...R. x centifolia trichomes resemble those of R. x damascena ‘bifera’. One difference is that they seem to have redder head-cells (Fig.): they are highly branched (Fig.) and may be very long (Fig.).
.....R. x centifolia and R. x damascena cultivars are both in the section Gallicanae and genetically related.....Thus, these cultivars could have preserved some traits of their common ancestor, R. gallica. Indeed, these species have the same kind of glandular trichomes on leaves and sepals and nearly the same VOCs in sepals.

Article (magazine)  (2004)  
 
The control of rhythmic emission of floral volatiles emitted from Rosa damascena semperflorens cv. `Quatre Saisons' throughout floral development under various light regimes was studied. 2-Phenylethanol was the major volatile emitted in addition to monoterpenols, oxidised monoterpenols, monoterpenes and aromatic compounds. All detected volatiles were emitted rhythmically, with maximum peaks coinciding 8–10 h into a 12-h photoperiod. For some compounds a secondary, nocturnal peak was apparent. The primary and secondary maxima both occurred at approximately 24-h intervals. Rhythms appeared to be regulated endogenously: rhythmic emission continued upon exposure to continuous light or continuous darkness, and a phase shift in emission was induced upon inversion of the photoperiod. Additionally, emission continued after flower excision. A similar profile of free volatiles was stored within the floral tissue, together with glycosidic forms of 2-phenylethanol (>99% β-d-glucoside), benzyl alcohol, citronellol and geraniol.

Book  (2 Nov 2003)  Page(s) 20.  
 
Barbara May and Jane Zammit.  Rookwood Cemetery Roses.  
The following roses have been identified at Rookwood, primarily in the old and Heritage listed areas  Quatre Saisons Damask.

Book  (2002)  Page(s) 22.  
 
Autumn Damask before 1867. Rated 8.2