Magazine  (11 May 1912)  Page(s) 314-315.  Includes photo(s).
 
Rosa Gigantea. The flowering of this remarkable Rose at Kew in the spring of 1910 (see Gardeners' Chronicle June 4, 1910, p. 370) was an Event which had been looked Forward to ever since ist introduction into cultivation by General Sir Henry Collett, in 1889.
At the present time it is again in flower at the Himalayan wing of the Temperate House, where it is planted out in a border amongst Himalayan and other tender Rhododendrons, and has climbed high up amongst the rafters and iron girders of the Roof to a height of about 40 feet. At such a distance from the ground the Beauty of ist flowers cannot be perceived, but a spray is reproduced in fig. 156 showing the flowers, which are from 4 to 5 inches in diameter, smaller than natural size.
In the bud stage the colour is rich copper, similar to W. Allen Richardson; this shade, however, fades rapidly as the Bloom expands until, when it has been open a day or two, the colour becomes ivory-white. The stamens are a bright yellow. The calyx lobes measure an Inch in length, but there are specimens in the Kew Herbarium in which the lobes are even longer than this. A remarkable Feature of the plant is ist extraordinary vigour and the enormous amount of growth which it has made in former years.
Some of the original seedlings raised from seed collected by General Collett in the Shan States were planted in several of the large houses at Kew in borders of prepared soil, and quickly made large specimens. Some of the shoots grew as much as 30 feet Long. A large specimen was grown for 10 years or so in the Succulent House, where it grew rampantly. During the summer and autumn the lights on the Roof were let down and the plant exposed to all the sun and light possible, being afterwards tied down close to the glass and subjected to the dry conditions of the other inmates of this house during the winter.
Other specimens were grown in the main building of the Temperate House, as well as in the Mexican and Himalayan wings. The temperature of each of the houses except that of the Himalayan wing, was sufficiently high to cause the plants to continue in growth all the year round, but in the Himalayan wing the plant obtained a rest of a few months during winter. The temperature of this house is never allowed to fall more than a few degrees below freezing point.
When originally planted in this house in 1889 the plant grew rapidly in the rather stiff loamy soil of the border. The soil, however, did not suit many of the other occupants of the house, and in 1906 it was replaced with a sandy peat. This has had a marked effect upon the rate of growth of the Rose, the stems being much more slender and the growth more twiggy generally. It is to the Change of soil that I Attribute the flowering of the Rose, and not to the hot summer of last year, for it produced flowers last year after the wet and cold summer of 1910. Cultivators would do well to try the effect of planting this Rose in a poor soil or where the roots may be restricted. They should also try the effect of low temperature during the winter.
A full account of the discovery and history of Rosa gigantea is given in the Gardeners' Chronicle, March 4, 1905, p. 136. The figure in the Botanical Magazine, tab. 7972, does not convey any adequate idea of the Beauty of the flowers, which are depicted as being of a dirty, greenish white.
The plant was originally discovered by Dr. Watt in 1882 during the Government demarcation Survey in Manipur at altitudes of 5-6,000 feet. It was later discovered by General Sir Henry Collett in the Shan Hills, Upper Burmah. It has since been collected by Dr. Henry, Mr. W. Hancock, and recently by Mr. George Forrest in North-West Yunnan, China. Mr. Forrest has discovered specimens with rosecoloured flowers, which have been described as variety erubescens by Focke in Notes of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, v, p. 68. The variety was found in shady situations in the Langkong, Hocking, and Lichiang Valleys, and is described by Mr. Forrest as "a semi-scandent scrub of 10-20 feet, with rose-pink, fragrant flowers."
Whilst this plant closely resembles Rosa gigantea in many respects, notably its calyx lobes and in several minor details, I am of the opinion that it is distinct. The fruit and seed, which are important characters in determining Roses, are wanting in the herbarium material of Focke's plant, and I have Little doubt that, when These are obtained, the plant will prove to be distinct.
An interesting account is given in the Journal of the Linnean Society, xxviii, p. 6, by General Collett, of the conditions under which he found R. gigantea. Dealing with the Flora of the district where it grows, he says that it "was found on a Plateau, at altitudes of 4-5,000 feet, where the traveller was at once struck with the temperate character of the Flora. The trees were mostly Oaks and Pines, whilst the herbaceaous plants were represented by species of Ranunculus, Viola, Hypericum, Clematis, &c." Dealing with the giant Rose, he says:-
"Only two species of Rosa were seen, and both were new. The beautiful R. gigantea is particularly conspicious, climbing over the tall forest trees, from the tops of which the Long, pendulous branches, covered with very large, White flowers, hang down in rich profusion. This Rose, which has larger flowers probably then any other wild species, is seen from a considerable distance in the jungle, reminding one more of a large Clematis than of a Rose... It is only locally abundant, chiefly in dark, shady valleys." The other Rose referred to was R. Collettiana, which, I believe, is not yet in cultivation.
C. P. Raffill.

Website/Catalog  (1912)  Page(s) 21.  
 
General List.
Gigantea (Himalaya) Pale straw colour, with yellow centre; very large single flowers of great lasting quality; a vigorous climbing rose

Book  (1910)  Page(s) 338.  
 
[Under the heading Interesting Species and Hybrids not Classified.] Gigantea; handsome single white flowers, but very shy blooming; makes immense growths. Native of Burmah.

Magazine  (Jun 1908)  Page(s) 237.  
 
NOTES SUR LES ROSES DE CHINE (1)
... Groupe IX.— Caninœ. — La rose commune de nos haies peut être prise comme le type de cette section du genre. En Chine, la R. Indica et R. gigantea seulement rentrent dans ce groupe. La dernière espèce nommée a été découverte en Birmanie par Sir H. Collett, mais plus récemment a été trouvée sur les montagnes du Yunnan, par MM. docteur Henry et Hancoch. Nous supposons que le nom R. Collettii qu'on applique à cette espèce, dans quelques jardins, lui a été donnée par quelqu’un désirant perpétuer le nom du général Collett. Il est important cependant de mentionner qu’il existe une vraie R. Collettii qui vient des Etats-Shans et est aussi distincte de R. gigantea, que deux roses peuvent l'être l’une de l’autre, R. Collettii Crépin dans Bulletin Société Botanique Belge, 1889, 49) est une rose à petite croissance, petite fleur, approchant de la R. microcarpa et est remarquable par ses stipules linéaires libres, qui sont aussi fugaces. Une belle figure de cette rose est représentée sur le journal de la Linnean Sociéty XXVIII, t. X. D’autre part, la vraie R. gigantea est une forte (immense) grimpeuse, avec des feuilles larges et des fleurs de 12 1/2 centimètres de diamètre. ... G. Nicholson
(Traduit par M. B. Bellefin, 26, cours Morand, à Lyon. Traductions anglaises, allemandes, italiennes et russes.)
(1) Journal of the royal hort. Society.

Magazine  (23 Feb 1907)  Page(s) 204-205.  
 
Rosa gigantea.—In your issue of February 23 last you published a short note of mine about Rosa gigantea. In response to my offer to send cuttings I received many applications, and I sent several hundred, but, warm weather ensuing, the plants started into strong growth and I had to cease sending. The plants flowered profusely, so I had a coloured sketch and a photograph taken; they are not life-size, the flowers here measuring 5 inches to 6 inches in diameter. In a stronger clay soil they reach 8 inches. I have also a pergola of Wistaria multijuga in my garden. This is the mauve variety, with flower-bunches 3 feet to 4 feet long; the white variety flowers later and is still longer.—Baron De Soutellinho, Entre Quintas, Oporto.

Magazine  (9 Feb 1907)  Page(s) 67.  
 
The King of wild Roses.
(Rosa Gigantea)
It is now twenty-five years since Dr. (now Sir George) Watt discovered this king of wild Roses in Manipur, and nineteen years since the late Sir Henry Collett sent seeds of it to Kew. Its introduction was heralded by glowing descriptions, pictures and dried specimens, so that we all knew what he had got, and, of course, there was a scramble for the possession of the first lot of plants. But the king of Roses was sulky in British gardens, and, although he grew lusty and strong, he refused to flower. All the cunning and coaxing of the cleverest rosarians were unavailing, and it was not until we had all been trying for ten years that flowers were developed, not, however, in England, but in the garden of Lord Brougham at Cannes.

The following year, 1899, it flowered in Mr. Arderne's garden at Cape Town. The first plant to flower in England was in the Duke of Northumberland's garden at Albury Park, Guildford. Some of us were sceptical even then, and Dr. Henry and I went to Albury to satisfy ourselves that Mr. Leach, the gardener at Albury, knew Rosa gigantea. He did, and by luck or intention he gave it exactly the same treatment as he had given with success for many years to another shy Eastern Rose, namely, R. fortuneana. This did the trick; the flowers were there, and we brought some to Kew to be figured for the Botanical Magazine. Mr. Leach grew his plant permanently under glass in a lean-to house facing south.

I have not seen or heard of this Rose flowering elsewhere in Britain, and I am unable to say how it can be made to flower. The accompanying illustration shows that it is happy and good-natured in Madeira, which is what one would expect of such an evident sun-worshipper. We have not given up all hope of finding a way to success with this Rose. It certainly ought to be at home in a sunny position in the warmer parts of these islands.

Here is an account of it by Mr. Hildebrand, who knew and grew the Rose in Burma; indeed, I believe he helped Sir Henry Collett to get it home to England: ''Rosa gigantea grows in profusion immediately opposite the window I am now writing at, and for 100 yards or more away. The boles of some of the plants are as thick as a man's thigh. It is a creeper, and does not flower until it gets over or beyond the tree it climbs. These specimens are on large evergreen trees, and their roots are in limestone and vegetable mould, through which run innumerable springs of pure water. The boles never get the sun, and they are always in the neighbourhood of the water, which, no doubt, the roots find. The whole of a large group of trees on the southern and western side is covered up to 50 feet or 80 feet with the Rose's shoots, and when in full bloom they look like a sheet of white, and the air all round is most deliciously scented. It is certainly a glorious sight. The ground all round is strewed with the seeds of the Rose in July."

It is nothing less than an insult to a Rose of this character to confine it to a 5-inch pot or train it on a 3-feet stick, and perhaps that is why we have failed. Here is a Rose which makes annual shoots at least 12 feet long and as thick as a man's thumb, which climbs up to the tops of trees 80 feet high and bears clusters of big flowers nearly 6 inches across, pale yellow when they first blow, changing to milk white—the king of Roses without a doubt, and if we want to know and enjoy it we must afford it kingly treatment. W. W.

Magazine  (4 Mar 1905)  Page(s) 136.  Includes photo(s).
 
Rosa gigantea (See Supplementary Illustration.) In 1889 we received from Sir George King, then the Director of the Calcutta Botanic Garden, some seeds of this noble Rose, which were distributed among those likely to succeed in its culture. Probably seeds were distributed from other sources also. Mr. George Paul informs us that he raised seedlings from this Rose, but that they damped off; and the same fate befell others raised by Mr. Leach. Some disappointment has been felt at the circumstance that while the Rose grows with the greatest freedom, as at Kew and elsewhere, flowers have only very rarely been produced. Eventually in 1898 Lord Brougham had the satisfaction of flowering the plant in his garden at Cannes. In his "List of Roses now in cultivation at the Château Eléonore at Cannes," published in 1898, his lordship mentions the plant as having flowered in his garden for the first time in Europe last month [April, 1898, presumably]. He gives a photographic representation of it, and describes it as— "A splendid plant, making growths of 40 feet or more, with rambling branches armed with irregular prickles of moderate size, often in pairs at base of leaves, which are about 3 inches long and glabrous. The flowers are solitary, about 6 inches in diameter—which size will not unlikely be increased when the plant is older and stronger, of a golden-white with yellow centre containing an unusual quantity of pollen. Petals large, broad, imbricated; disc large, styles much exserted, free, villous; stamens long. The most desirable and by far the finest single Rose l have ever seen. It does not seem to be very hardy and is subject to mildew [as it is also here]. The bud is long, larger, but very closely resembles that of Madame Marie Lavallée, and of a pure gold colour. This Rose when in flower should obviously be shaded, as the sun soon extracts the gold from the blooms, leaving behind a substitute of dirty white. At a short distance the flowers bear a close resemblance to a Clematis." Mr. F. Cant, of Colchester, also succeeded in flowering it, but with such indifferent results that he discarded the Rose as useless for his purposes. Then came Mr. Leach, the gardener to the Duke of Northumberland at Albury, Surrey, who succeeded in 1903 in inducing the plant to produce two flowers, the first of which was just on 6 inches across. In February, 1904, the same specimen produced about a dozen flowers, and this year Mr. Leach had the satisfaction of seeing twenty-eight blooms on his plant, some of which were exhibited at the Royal Horticultural Society on Tuesday last, and secured for the exhibitor the award of a Cultural Commendation and a Botanical Certificate. Mr. Leach cultivates the plant in a Peach-house, and the shoots are trained down on the wires. The colour of the flowers exhibited was ivory-white, and the foliage showed one more pair of leaflets to each leaf than is represented in our illustration. A good figure is given in the Botanical Magazine, t. 7972 (September, 1901), where the flowers are shown of a pale-primrose-yellow colour, whilst the bud has the golden colour mentioned in Lord Brougham's description. There is no doubt whatever from the glowing descriptions given by travellers, and such evidence as we now have, that this is indeed a grand Rose and amply deserved the award made to it. In due time we doubt not we shall discover some means of inducing the plant to flower more freely. Up to the present, as Mr. Hemsley says, "every possible method of propagation has been tried ineffectually in order to obtain flowers more freely in this country, yet it flowers profusely on the Riviera." Sir George Watt was the first to discover this Rose (in Manipur), but the name R. gigantea was first published by the late Sir Henry Collett, who found the plant in the Shan Hills, Upper Burmah. More recently it has been found in Southwestern China by Dr. Henry and others. We may therefore expect considerable variation, whilst the colour of the flowers, about which there has been a diversity of statement, would naturally differ according to varying conditions and diverse stages of growth. Sir George Watt mentions that the fruit is edible, as large as a small Apple, and that it is sold in the bazaars of Manipur State. Mr. Fitzherbert, in our own columns, May 2, 1903, p. 278, mentions the species as hardy in South Devon; and we have heard of it as grown on an outside wall at Reigate, Surrey.

Magazine  (1 Sep 1904)  Page(s) Tab. 7972.  Includes photo(s).
 
ROSA gigantea
Native of Eastern, India, North Burma and Western China.
Nat. Ord. Rosaceae. — Tribe Roseae.
Genus Rosa, Linn, ; (Benth. et Hook.f. Gen. Plant, vol. i. p. 625.)
ROSA (§ Indicae) gigantea ; species ex affinitate R. indicae, Linn., a qua ramulis saepissime ebracteatis unifloris floribus fructibusque majoribus differt; frutex robustissimus, alte scandens vel vagans, caulibus basi 3-4 poll, diametro aculeis fere rectis circiter 3-4 lin. longis armatis, ramulis floriferis inermibus vel aculeis paucis recurvis armatis, foliis in ramis floriferis 3-7-foliolatis 3-9 poll, longis, petiolis aculeolatis setoso-glandulosis, foliolis breviter petiolulatis lanceolatis 1-3 poll, longis acuminatis margine calloso-serrulatis glabris, stipulia integris fere ad apicem adnatis parte libera lineari minute glandulosa, pedunculis saepius unifloris interdum trifloris saepius elongatis nudis, floribus albis vel lutescentibus (petalis in alabastris extus fere aureis) 4-6 poll, diametro, sepalis anguste lanceolatis longe acuminatis usque ad 1 poll, longis praecipue intus albo-pubescentibus margine minute glandulosis, petalis obovato-rotundatis 1 3/4-2 1/2 poll, diametro abrupte obtuseque acuminata, carpellis pilosis, fructu globoso circiter 1 1/2 poll, diametro inermi glabro.
R. gigantea, Collett, ex Crépin in Comptes-Rendus des Séances de la Soc. Bot. Belg. vol. xxvii. (1888), pp. 150-154, et vol. xxviii. (1889), pp. 11-14. Gard. Chron. 1889, vol. ii. p. 12, fig. 4. Coll. et Hemsl. in Journ. Linn. Soc. Bot. vol. xxviii. (1890), p. 55, t. 9. W. C. Leach in Gard. Chron. 1903, vol. i. pp. 188 et 211. S. W. F. in diar. cit. p. 278.
R. macrocarpa, Watt, ex Crépin in Comptes Rendus des Séances de la Soc. Bot. Belg. vol. xxviii. (1889), p. 13.

This remarkable Rose was, we believe, first discovered by Dr. (now Sir George) Watt in Manipur, in 1882, at an altitude of 7000 ft., and there are excellent specimens in the Kew and other herbaria collected by him. He regarded it as an undescribed species, and named it R. macrocarpa, but he never published a description. The name, however, has appeared in print in the place cited above.
In 1888 the late Col. Sir Henry Collett discovered the same species in the Shan Hills, Upper Burma, some five degrees south of the original locality, and he sent dried specimens and seeds of it to Calcutta and Kew. More recently it has been collected in Mengtze, Yunnan, South-western China, by Mr. W. Hancock and Dr. A. Henry. The former describes the flower as white, and sometimes fifteen inches in circumference.
Sir Henry Collett was greatly interested in his Rose, which impressed him as one of the most striking objects in the forest of the Shan Hills, and he was desirous of its being published. Accordingly the Calcutta specimens were sent to Prof. F. Crépin, who described them under Collett's proposed name.
The seed send to Kew germinated, and the plants grew apace. Some were given to other gardens; some were tried at Kew under various conditios, but none flowered. One was planted out in the Succulent House, where it remained, for years, and must have made hundreds of yards of stems and branches, but it never flowered. At the present time there is a plant in the Temperate House with shoots some fifty feet long, showing no signs of flowering.
Albury Park, Guildford, one of the seats of the Duke of Northumberland, is the only place, except under glass with Mr. Cant, the Nurseryman, we believe, where it has flowered in England, and we are indebted to Her Grace the Duchess for the opportunity of giving a coloured figure of it. Mr. Leach, the Head Gardener at Albury, writes that two flowers only were produced in 1903, " the first of which was just on six inches across." In February of the present year, the same plant bore about a dozen flowers, the largest being a little more than five inches and a half across.
Every possible method of propagation has been tried ineffectually in order to obtain flowers more freely in this country; yet it flowers profusely in the Riviera.
The drawing of the fruit was made from a dried specimen, soaked out. Sir George Watt tells us that it is as large as a small apple, bright yellow, edible, and it is sold in the bazaars of Manipur State.
Fortune's "Double Yellow," which is very closely allied to R. gigantea, is also usually a very shy bloomer, though it sometimes flowers freely when worked as a standard.

Descr. — A very vigorous, climbing or rambling shrub. Stems as much as three or four inches in diameter at the base, more or less armed with nearly straight prickles about a quarter of an inch long. Flowering-branches usually unarmed, sometimes furnished with a few curved prickles. Leaves usually of five or seven leaflets, uppermost often of three leaflets, three to nine inches long; petioles furnished with small prickles and glandular bristles. Leaflets lanceolate, one to three inches long, glabrous, serrulate. Stipules entire, minutely glandular, adnate to the petiole almost to the top, free part linear. Peduncles often elongated, naked, one- or rarely three-flowered. Flowers white or more or less tinged with yellow, almost golden in bud, four to six inches across. Sepals linear-lanceolate, acuminate, about an inch long, pubescent and white on the inner surface, minutely glandular along the margin. Petals orbicular-obovate, largest two inches and a half across, abruptly acuminate. Carpels hairy. Fruit globose, about an inch and a half in diameter, quite smooth. — W.B. H.

Fig. 1, free part of stipule; 2 and 3, stamens; 4, pistil; 5, fruit; 6, a ripe carpel : — all except 5 enlarged.

(30 May 1903)  Page(s) 10.  
 
Horticultural Notes.
One of our most prominent rosegrowers, Mr. Alister Clark, of Glenara, writes in reference to the giant Indian rose, Rosa gigantea. He says it is a most prodigious grower; his specimen, although quite a young one, and in spite of its points being continually eaten off by opossums, is fully 20ft. in height. Its flowers are lemon coloured in the bud, opening to pure white, but these are very sparingly produced. Brunning, in his catalogue, gives the colour as a blush pink. Probably these are two kinds of roses sent out under the same name. Mr. Clark says that his plant is precisely the same as the one in the succulent-house in Kew-gardens, London, and, therefore, must be the true one.

Book  (1900)  Page(s) 351.  
 
Rosa gigantea. (Gardeners' Chronicle 1888, iv. 122, 1889, vi. 13, f.4; Garden and Forest 1888, 321; Gartenflora 1888, 516.) Greeenhouse. Something in the way of R. chinensis, but larger, and differing in having solitary white flowers 5 in. in diam., with entire outer sepals and unarmed floral branches. Burma.