Newsletter  (May 2019)  Page(s) 13.  
 
[From "Shinosuke-Bara: The Bamboo Rose", by Stephen Hoy, pp. 12-13]
The five petalled blooms of R. watsoniana are pale pink to white and are very small, measuring approximately ¼” in diameter; they arrive mid-summer in large pyramidal clusters referred to botanically as corymbs. As unusual as the flowers are, the feature that really draws one’s attention to this rose is the slender willow or bamboo-like foliage, which is pale green mottled white. Each leaf has three leaflets which may account for Crépin’s comment about its “relation” to R. anemoneflora. The arching stems layer themselves over one another in rather casual fashion, growing to about 3-4’ in height and diameter, and are armed with small, but very sharp, hooked prickles.

Website/Catalog  (2006)  
 
"Shonosuke-Bara" (R. multiflora var. watsoniana (Crép.) Matsum.)

Article (website)  (2002)  
 
Taxon: Rosa multiflora Thunb. forma watsoniana (Crép.) Matsum.
Genus: Rosa...
Place of publication: Bot. Mag. (Tokyo) 10:165. 1896
Name verified on: 02-Oct-1997 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 31-Jul-2000
...
References:
Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening. (Dict Gard) [= R. watsoniana].
Krüssmann, G. 1984. Manual of cultivated broad-leaved trees and shrubs (English translation of Handbuch der Laubgehölze. 1976). (Krussmann)
Rehder, A. 1949. Bibliography of cultivated trees and shrubs. (Rehder) [= R. watsoniana].
Synonyms:
(≡) Rosa watsoniana Crép. (basionym)

Book  (1993)  Page(s) 408.  Includes photo(s).
 
'Watsoniana'. Rosa multiflora watsoniana, 'Bamboo Rose'. Shrub. 'Watsoniana' is often claimed to be a Japanese form of R. multiflora, a native of that country, but it seems that in fact it originated in the garden of a Mr. Watson in Albany, New York, and its derivation from R. multiflora is by no means certain. It would, however look charming in a Japanese-style garden, with its long, narrow leaflets, often curiously deformed and twisted and mottled in white., It is only quite a small bush, needing a bit of pampering; the small white flowers are scented but otherwise not noteworthy. Parentage unknown. Repeat flowering. Fragrant.

Book  (1993)  Page(s) 78.  Includes photo(s).
 
[Listed under "Wild Roses and Their Cultivars"] ('The Bamboo Rose', Rosa multiflora 'Watsoniana') A mutation with very narrow leaflets and weak stems. Produces few flowers. Summer flowering. Height: 2 ft.

Book  (1988)  Page(s) 161.  
 
location Show Garden, R. multiflora Thunb. var. watsoniana (Crép.) Matsumura, 'BAMBOO ROSE', SYNYTLAE, Japan, known only in garden culture, 1870, white-light pink, single, very small, bushy, arching, branched, 1 m, light-medium green medium-large, matte narrow variegated foliage, 5-7 leaflets, red small-medium rounded fruit

Website/Catalog  (1986)  Page(s) 55.  
 
Rosa multiflora watsoniana*  An unusual Species with thin, twiggy wood and long, thorny, wavy edged, greyish-green leaves.  Flowers individually small and single but produced in large panicles followed by small red hips.  Not totally hardy but interesting enough to mollycoddle in winter.  1870. Sb. F. (S) 5 x 4’.

Book  (1978)  Page(s) 154.  
 
R. multiflora watsoniana
This is an oddity, known also as the 'bamboo  Rose'. It has strangely  deformed leaflets, long and narrow, sometimes patched with white. No beauty, but it does indicate what strange tricks R. multiflora can play. Whether it came from a Japanese garden, or from one in Albany, New York,  is the choice offered by the reports of its origin.

Book  (1971)  Page(s) 65.  
 
F. Fairbrother. Rose Foliage. A particularly curious variant is R. multiflora watsoniana. This has willow-like foliage, very narrow and linear and not resembling a rose leaf at all. It appears to be a sport, as seedlings develop as normal foliaged R. multiflora.

Magazine  (Nov 1952)  Page(s) 4.trimester, p. 115.  
 
Le Rosa Watsoniana, forme un buisson arrondi, dense, d'un mètre de hauteur, autant de largeur, il est très curieux par ses petites feuilles linéaires, très rapprochée