Article (newsletter)  (Nov 2017)  Page(s) 15.  Includes photo(s).
 
Not to be overlooked is R. soulieana, which Wilson encountered in the summer of 1908, quite abundant in arid river valleys across the China-Tibet border. There on the borderland, “many kinds of roses occure [sic],” he wrote, “but often the species are local.” R. soulieana was the most common, its fragrant sulphur-yellow flowers fading to white, its branches of grey-green foliage tall and arching. Wilson also saw it growing in profusion in the “Wokji” area of Tibet. (I think he meant the Rewoqê [also Rewochê, pronounced “re-WOE-chay”] region bordering China.) He had seen the rose also earlier in his 1904 Veitch expedition, then saw it again in August of 1910 in the valley of the Yalung River. Botanist W. J. Bean claimed it was “one of the most robust of all roses.”

Magazine  (2016)  Page(s) Vol 38, No. 3.  Includes photo(s).
 
Richard Walsh. Feature Rose - R. Soulieana .....

Booklet  (2009)  Page(s) 28.  
 
Diploid...R. soulieana, hetereozygous loci 50% [Provenance: Quarry Hill Botanical Garden, Glen Ellen, CA, 1991.190 Sichuan province]
R. soulieana, hetereozygous loci 55% [Provenance: Quarry Hill Botanical Garden, Glen Ellen, CA, 2003.438C Sichuan province]
R. soulieana, hetereozygous loci 77% [Provenance: China]

Book  (May 2003)  
 
Rosa soulieana Crépin, Bull. Soc. Roy. Bot. Belgique. 35: 21. 1896.  
Shrubs erect, 2–4 m tall. Branchlets spreading, usually green, terete, often curved, glabrous, often glaucous; prickles scattered, straight or slightly curved, flat, gradually tapering to turgid base. Leaves including petiole 3–8 cm; stipules mostly adnate to petiole, free parts very short, triangular, sometimes glandular, margin entire, apex acute; rachis and petiole sparsely shortly prickly, glabrous or sparsely pubescent; leaflets (5–)7(–9), elliptic or obovate, 1–3 × 0.7–2 cm, abaxially glabrous or puberulous with prominent midvein, adaxially glabrous, with concave midvein, base subrounded or broadly cuneate, margin appressed-serrate, near base often entire, apex rounded-obtuse, acute, or truncate. Flowers numerous, 3–5 cm in diam., in corymb 3–4 cm in diam., or solitary and terminal; pedicel less than 1 cm, glabrous, sometimes shortly glandular-pubescent; bracteoles less than 1 cm. Hypanthium subglobose or ovoid, glabrous, sometimes shortly glandular-pubescent. Sepals 5, deciduous, ovate, abaxially sparsely puberulous, sometimes shortly glandular-pubescent, adaxially densely puberulous, margin 1- or 2-lobed near base, apex acuminate. Petals 5, yellow-white, obovate, base cuneate, apex emarginate. Styles connate into column, exserted, slightly longer than stamens, pubescent or glabrous. Hip orange-red initially, becoming black-purple, subglobose or ovoid, ca. 1 cm in diam., shiny. Fl. May–Jul, fr. Aug–Sep.
Scrub, slopes, stream sides, farmland; 2500--3700 m. S Anhui, Chongqing, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan.

Four variants are recognized:
microphylla leaflets small
sungpanensis leaflets large, flowers in panicle, from N. Sichuan
soulieana leaflets smooth, flowers in corymbs, from shrub slopes at high altitudes above 8200 ft [2500 m]
yunnanensis leaflets pubescent beneath, flowers in corymbs

Article (magazine)  (2001)  Page(s) 393.  
 
R. soulieana Crép. Ploidy 2x
Pollen fertility 91.3%
Selfed Fruit set 0%

Book  (Dec 1998)  Page(s) 59.  
 
R. soulieana. White. This tall shrub is capable of growing up to 15 ft (5 m) in good conditions. Its relaxed habit also provides it with a very broad girth. The long grayish green stems are covered with an armature of long and slender, sharp yellowish prickles and the leaves, plentiful and soft grayish green, are made up of seven to nine leaflets, which are broadly elliptical, sharply serrated and slightly downy to touch. The flowers, about one and a half inches (4 cm) across are single, white and fragrant and borne in tightly packed corymbs along the arching branches in mid-summer. They are quite a sight when a mature plant is in full flush. A great abundance of small round orange hips follow. R. soulieana is probably best in climates where severe frosts are not a regular occurrence. Zones 4-10. China 1896. Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit.

Book  (Mar 1998)  Page(s) 12.  
 
R. soulieana commemorates the French priest, Father Soulié

Book  (Nov 1994)  Page(s) 93.  
 
Western China. Although this species was introduced as long ago as 1896, it is still a rare plant in cultivation. It belongs to the entirely separate botanical group of Synstylae, all the others of which are great climbers, like Rosa brunonii; but as R. soulieana is a grey-leaved shrub, it fits best here horticulturally. In common with R. fedtschenkoana, R. murieliae and R. beggeriana, it has considerable value in the artistry of the garden. It is a large-growing rose of arching, sprawling habit, and possibly its scarcity in gardens is due to its size, for it can grow to 10 feet or so eventually, mounding itself up, and has an equal spread. I could take more interest in the beauty of the young grey stems set with yellowish prickles if the latter were not so numerous. Be this as it may, nobody can deny that the general effect is charming; the leaves are of cool, greyish green, usually with 7 leaflets, and the inch-wide white flowers are carried in bunches of several, emerging from ivory-yellow buds. When the crop of flowers is half open the plants are of extraordinary beauty, only equalled a few days later when the whole thing disappears under a snowy covering of petals, giving a rich, fruity fragrance. In the white garden at Kiftsgate Court, Gloucestershire, it is of outstanding merit. It has a further unusual attraction, for the heps, which are small and round, are orange, not red, a tint which combines well with the deeper grey-green of late summer and early autumn. It is not absolutely hardy; I have had strong growths of the summer killed to the ground by autumn frost, but it soon recovers, and I think it becomes hardier when its excessive early vigour has somewhat spent itself.
Willmott. Plate 57
Botanical Magazine t.8158. Rather too yellow
Lancaster: Plate, page 351

p219. (Listed in the Synstylae chapter). A Chinese species with greyish leaves and white flowers, and bushy growth. Described in Chapter 5, as it is more of a shrub than a climber - though it can produced shoots 12 to 15 feet long in a season when established.

Book  (1993)  Page(s) 78-79.  Includes photo(s).
 
[Listed under "Wild Roses and Their Cultivars"] Description. Native of western Sichuan where it grows on rocky hillsides. Flowers in late summer. Height: 18 ft. Scented.

Book  (1992)  Page(s) 312.  
 
R. soulieana. China 1896. A vigorous, dense shrub with thin, arching branches bearing grey-green, rather fluffy foliage and numerous small spines. Single white flowers, produced in trusses, followed by bunches of oval, orange-red hips. Summer flowering only. Tolerant of poor soils. Ornamental fruit. Suitable for woodland and covert planting. Tolerant to shade. Suggested for growing adjacent to water. 10’x 6’