Book  (Nov 1994)  Page(s) 39-40.  
 
Through the kindness of Professor V.M. Staicov of the Bulgarian State Agricultural Institute for the Investigation of Mediacal and Aromatic Plants, who kindly sent me both herbarium specimens and, later, living material of the roses grown at Kazanlik, I have been able to elucidate the matter. ...'Stambulska' and 'Trendaphil', which I have been so far unable to identify with anything in this country.

Book  (1981)  Page(s) 120.  
 
The rose ‘De La Grifferaie’ [R. multiflora x R. gallica (or hybrid of R. gallica)] once much used as a stock, shows the influence of both the suggested parents..... Very similar to this is ‘Byzantina’, the Constantinople rose, which Dieck found in Bulgaria and put into commerce (Gartenflora, 1889, p159). The Belgian authority Crepin identified the Constantinople rose as R. multiflora x R. gallica, a parentage that Dieck found hard to accept, on the grounds that the rose had reached Bulgaria too early – by the 1820s – for R. multiflora to be a possible parent. It is, however, by no means impossible that cultivars of R. multiflora had reached the gardens of s. W. Asia from China at an early date…..

Website/Catalog  (1934)  Page(s) 94.  
 
Oil Roses (Roses of Kasanlyk)...Rosa gallica phoenicea byzantina. Also an Oil rose from Rumelia. Very vigorous growth, colour of the blooms also pink (9 ia/na). Very fragrant...Low garden plants 1 piece RM [Reichsmark] 1.-  10 pieces RM 9.-

Website/Catalog  (1925)  Page(s) 86.  
 
Oil Roses (Roses of Kasanlyk)...Rosa gallica phoenicea byzantina. Also an Oil rose from Rumelia. Very vigorous growth, colour of the blooms also pink. Very fragrant...Low-grafted garden plants 1 piece G.-M. [Gold-Mark] 1.25

Book  (1900)  Page(s) 350.  
 
Rosa byzantina (Hamburger Garten- und Blumenzeitung 1888, 561.) Hardy. No description. Yields Attar of Roses. Eastern Europe, &c.

Book  (1892)  Page(s) 182.  
 
Rosa byzantina (Dieck). Also belonging to Rosa gallica and under the name 'Rose de Constantinople' imported in the 20s of this century from Rumeli and especially from Constantinople into these parts, without catching attention until a few years ago, despite its sweet fragrance. Since domestic producers of essential oils have recognized this as a valuable oil rose and started to pay high prices, it will without doubt gain a high economic importance in other places too and be cultivated on large scale.

Article (magazine)  (1889)  Page(s) 14-15.  Includes photo(s).
 
...an oil rose from Rumeli [Turkish name for south east Balkans] which I introduced as Rosa byzantina...It discerns itself through extraordinary floriferousness, vigorous growth and astonishingly easy propagation. This rose is known in Kazanlik, but not yet used in large scale for production of oil. My Bulgarian friend at first glance identified it as "Rose de Constantinople", and exactly from Constantinople [Istanbul] has this rose arrived many years ago at a manor house of the area. The fragrance of this rose is strong, but it seems to me that it is not as pleasing as that of our Centifolia, so that the oil produced from it might be lesser than that of the oils manufactured from the centifolias and Kazanlik-Gallicas.
This very extraordinary Rosa byzantina has such a great resemblance in habit with the French rose de la Grifferaie, which is now generally regarded as a hybrid of the japanese Rosa multiflora with one of the double Gallicas, that she almost calls out to an attempt to include her into the highly interesting group of Synstylae. Crépin, whom I sent herbarium material, was also the opinion that she could be a hybrid of R. multiflora with a double Gallica, but on reflecting more, this probability seems excluded. This rose was already brought in the 20s of this century from Constantinople into the area, at a time when Rosa multiflora was scarcely introduced in Europe, but surely not yet in Turkey. There remain therefore only two Anatolian synystlae, i.e. Rosa phoenicea and Rosa moschata, which could have created this interesting oil rose with a double red damask.
I have listed this as gallica x phoenicia in the the last index of my nursery, but I am far from saying the final word on this...The picture in natural size shows a lot of similarity with foliage of R. phoenicea, which generally has 5 leaflets, while the foliage of R. byzantina has mostly 7 leaflets, like Rosa moschata. The form of the multifloral inflorescence reminds with its flatter, umbel or semi-globular shape also rather R. phoenicea. The colour of the blooms is a vivid pink and the size corressponds to that of damask roses. What tends most to bring this rose in relation to R. phoenicea, is aside from the strongly curved prickles which are totally identical to that of R. phoenicea, an external aspect which is clearly evident. I have several hundred plants of both forms, which all show on the underside of the foliage of the stronger shoots a vivid purple-violet shading which I have not seen in the same intensity with any other rose.

Book  (1889)  Page(s) 122.  
 
...mous avons reçu de Kézanlik un échantillon, malheureusement dépourvu de fleurs, d'un rosier que l'on trouve quelquefois accidentellement dans les cultures, qui n'est jamais planté a part, comme le R. alba, et qui, introduit à une époque indéterminée dans les plantations, s'y trouve propagé par mégarde lorsqu'on rase tout un champ pour en replanter les rameaux, comme nous l'indiquons plus loin. Ce rosier est connu dans le pays sous le nom de Rosier de Constantinople. Il grandit plus vite que les autres, mais se montre beaucoup plus sensible aux intempéries des saisons, ce qui ôterait toute idée d'en faire une culture spéciale. On ne rencontre d'ailleurs qu'à Kézanlik, jamais dans les villages. Il se trouve disséminé au hasard dans les haies de rosiers, parmi les autres. Sa fleur est plus petite que celle de la Rose rouge, et d'une couleur beaucoup plus foncée, presque violette. Les feuilles que nous avons examinées sont à cinq folioles, et atteignent les mêmes dimensions que celles du R. damascena. Mais les folioles en sont plus volumineuses et plus coriaces: leur forme est ovale-acumniée: les dents sont acuminées et dépourvues de soies glanduleuses: la couleur est d'un vert franc en dessus, plus pâle, mais très clair en dessous. Les pétioles portent quelques aiguillons très petits, entremèles de poils glanduleux; ceux-ci montrent en abondance, quoique avec une très petite taille, sur les nervures de la face inférieure, nervures très saillantes d'ailleurs et d'une grande netteté jusque dans leurs plus faibles ramifications Le limbe proprement dit est glabre. Les stipules sont étroites, très aiguës et glanduleuses sur les bords. - Nous pensons pouvoir ranger cette espèce parmi les Gallicanes, en attendant l'examen de la fleur à la prochaine floraison.

Magazine  (1888)  Page(s) 561.  
 
Rosa gallica X phoenicea = Rosa byzantina Dieck. This rose which since some time is grown in the Zöschen nurseries was identified by a very experiences Bulgarian rosarian as 'Rose de Constantinople'. Imported in the 20s of this century from Rumeli and especially from Constantinople into these parts, without catching attention until a few years ago, despite its sweet fragrance. Since domestic producers of essential oils have recognized this as avaluable oil rose and started to pay high prices, it will without doubt gain a high economic importance in other places too and be cultivated on large scale.

Magazine  (1888)  Page(s) 364.  
 
Rosa gallica x phoenicia = byzanthina Dieck. [Dutch translation of article in Hamburger Garten- und Blumenzeitung]