(Jun 2007)  
 
R. longicuspis ... is the typical musk rose of the Eastern Himalayas. We found it on the sides of a ravine on Shillong Peak in the Khasi hills around 2300 meters altitude. It is an extensive climber reaching well over 10 meters, with clusters of white flowers with a trace of pink and the most beautiful foliage – elongated and a shining dark green.

(Jun 2007)  
 
R. clinophylla .... 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. 
We were able after much search to locate this plant growing in Oriya Village, in Mount Abu, at virtually the same point where it was originally located by G. King in 1888.  It differs from the eastern Indian forms in bearing flowers in corymbs, rather than singly. ...
As regards R. lyelli, which is treated as a separate species by taxonomists, the most striking differences are the prickles which point downwards, and the flowers being produced in corymbs 3 to 7 together unlike the solitary flowering habit of clinophylla which has prickles pointing upwards.
The great taxonomist, M. Francois Crepin was of the opinion that R. lyelli was a hybrid of R. clinophylla with R. moschata, in which he included the Himalayan R. brunonii.

(Jun 2007)  
 
R. macrophylla is one of the largest flowered and most strikingly colored of the Himalayan rose species, with flowers ranging from dark pink to almost red. It forms an upright shrub reaching up to 5 meters with dark red or purple stems.
We had a dramatic introduction to this magnificent rose, in 1982, when climbing the footpath to the Valley of Flowers, an alpine valley in the Central Himalayas, at around 2700 meters elevation. Walking around a bend in the path, we were about to cross the icy cold waters of the River Pushpganga, (literally, ‘flower Ganges’) when we saw the reflection, in the waters, of the beautiful red flowers --- a stunning sight indeed. It was a huge bush, covered with blooms.
The famous botanist, J. D. Hooker, called it ‘the great red rose, one of the most beautiful Himalayan plants, whose single flowers are as large as the palm of the hand.’
Ghora and Panigrahi refer to 3 additional varieties of R. macrophylla in India. Apart from R. macrophylla itself, where the petals are pink to red, R. macrophylla var. hookeriana, with pink to white petals, var. minor, and var. arguta are mentioned. Here again contemporary field studies are required.

(Jun 2007)  
 
Ghora and Panigrahi refer to 3 additional varieties of R. macrophylla in India. Apart from R. macrophylla itself, where the petals are pink to red, R. macrophylla var. hookeriana, with pink to white petals, var. minor, and var. arguta are mentioned. 

(Jun 2007)  
 
Ghora and Panigrahi refer to 3 additional varieties of R. macrophylla in India. Apart from R. macrophylla itself, where the petals are pink to red, R. macrophylla var. hookeriana, with pink to white petals, var. minor, and var. arguta are mentioned. 

(Jun 2007)  
 
A fairly common cultivated rose in India, perhaps introduced by the Mughal Emperors, is the true R. moschata, as distinct from R. brunonii, the musk rose of the Himalayas. This was known as R. glandulifera in the past.

(Jun 2007)  
 
R. sericea .... is is the typical rose of the higher reaches of the Himalayas, quite widespread in distribution. It is a stiff erect shrub with leaves with small leaflets and solitary white to cream flowers. The plants can reach heights in excess of 4 meters.
On the same route to the Valley of Flowers we could see bushes in large numbers, but only above 3000 meters.
It has the unique distinction of being four-petalled.

(Jun 2007)  
 
R. webbiana is the typical inhabitant of the semi-arid Western Himalayas. It is a shrub, reaching up to 2.5 meters with slender branches and straight prickles, leaves with small rounded leaflets and prickly leaf stalks. The flowers are borne in clusters of 1 to 3. It is a rose of unique, even fragile beauty, with lilac pink to dark pink flowers, contrasting admirably with the rugged rocky terrain of the region.
To quote Jack Harkness, it ‘might be called the Fairy Queen of the wild roes for its sweetness and grace. The plant grows about head high, and trails its older shoots down to the ground, all neatly in the shape of a graceful lady in lacy crinolines. Lace is the right word too for an impression of the tiny leaves and dark twigs. The little flowers are all delicacy in their pink petals and discreetly attractive perfume. Finally, the hips adorn the bush in the autumn, in the shape of ewers held upside down. They are not large, for nothing about R. webbiana is aggressive; their size is sufficient to attract notice and hold admiration.’
The book, “The Family Rosaceae in India’ by Ghora and Panigrahi refers to 2 additional varieties of R. webbiana, namely, R. webbiana var. glandulosa, a variant with red flowers found on the edges of the alpine zone in Kashmir, and R. webbiana latifolia.
Field studies are required to confirm the existence of these varieties at the present time.