(2006)  Includes photo(s).
 
Rosa x damascena ‘Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseux’ (syn. ‘Perpetual White Moss’ or ‘Rosier de Thionville’) is a repeat-blooming shrub up to 1.5 m tall, with delicate brown stings on the stem. The double-petal flower is white with, sometimes, a pink tint. Its creation was made by an anonymous breeder in Thionville (France) in the year of 1829 (and probably not by Laffay in 1835, as is often written in horticultural books.
......Trichomes of R. x damascena ‘bifera’ have non-branched and short stalks (Fig.). At the contrary, glandular trichomes of R. x damascena ‘Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseux’ are generally very long and highly branched (Fig.). In fact, new glandular trichomes develop on older ones (Fig.) suggesting a repetition of the developmental program. The head can grow rapidly (Fig.) before the stalk (Fig.)
.......R. x centifolia ‘muscosa’ is a mossy sport derived from R. x centifolia. .... These trichomes have similar head-cells except that they are redder than those of R. x damascena cultivars. They have also the same VOC composition and quantities, except for higher level of fatty acid derivatives in R. x centifolia sepals. Compared to R. x damascena cultivars, pinene isomers and myrcene are less abundant......it seems that the mutations of R. x centifolia ‘muscosa’ and R. x damascena ‘Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseux’ are really identical but that they appeared twice in different rose lines.
....Collectively, these results do not reveal any difference between the moss sports of these two different cultivars. The same repeat-program of trichome development seems to occur in R. x damascena ‘Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseux’ and R. x centifolia ‘muscosa’ in full bloom.
....the VOCs of the sepals were quite different from those of the petals. R. x damascena ‘Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseux’ had nearly the same sepal composition as its parent except for a higher quantity of myrcene.
.....Chemical analysis of the scent of R. x centifolia ‘muscosa’ and R. x damascena ‘Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseux’ revealed similar composition of VOCs in the petals and some slight differences in the sepals (Fig.). In petals of R. x centifolia ‘muscosa’, benzenoids (mostly 2-phenylethanol) made up nearly 60% of the volatile compounds, as in R. x damascena ‘Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseux’. Other chemicals were geraniol, nerol, citronellol and their derivatives.
.........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.

(2006)  
 
.....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.

(2006)  
 
... the first clear and indisputable reference to a moss rose is that of Boerhaave in 1720 ....who described a ‘Rosa rubra plena, spinosissima, pedunculo muscoso’, now known as Rosa x centifolia ‘muscosa’.
.....Chemical analysis of the scent of R. x centifolia ‘muscosa’ and R. x damascena ‘Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseux’ revealed similar composition of VOCs in the petals and some slight differences in the sepals (Fig.). In petals of R. x centifolia ‘muscosa’, benzenoids (mostly 2-phenylethanol) made up nearly 60% of the volatile compounds, as in R. x damascena ‘Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseux’. Other chemicals were geraniol, nerol, citronellol and their derivatives.
....Collectively, these results do not reveal any difference between the moss sports of these two different cultivars. The same repeat-program of trichome development seems to occur in R. x damascena ‘Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseux’ and R. x centifolia ‘muscosa’ in full bloom.
...R. x centifolia ‘muscosa’ is a mossy sport derived from R. x centifolia. .... These trichomes have similar head-cells except that they are redder than those of R. x damascena cultivars. They have also the same VOC composition and quantities, except for higher level of fatty acid derivatives in R. x centifolia sepals. Compared to R. x damascena cultivars, pinene isomers and myrcene are less abundant......it seems that the mutations of R. x centifolia ‘muscosa’ and R. x damascena ‘Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseux’ are really identical but that they appeared twice in different rose lines.....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.

(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.