Newsletter  (Nov 2019)  Page(s) 17-18.  Includes photo(s).
 
Around 1864 the zoologist and botanist Jean Charles Marie Grenier discovered and described this rose. He believed it to be a variety of the species Rosa reuteri, which over the next two decades or so had its name changed three times by the scientific establishment. Not surprisingly, these changes caused confusion, for Grenier had described three or four variants of R. reuteri, only one of which was ‘Complicata’, but now apparently all variants were subsumed under one changed name. The situation becomes even more mystifying. The further story is that Jules Gravereaux, having read of this species rose, ordered it from the Otto Froebel nursery in Zurich for his Rosarie de l’Hay, which he was designing and planting in 1902, having in mind to grow every known rose of the time. It seems that Froebel unwittingly sent him the wrong rose, which then became identified as ‘Complicata’. About 23 years later, its identity was questioned. Given the species name changes, given their variants, and given the possible mix-up, botanists at the turn of our century were still trying to unravel the threads of this complicated tapestry. Do we have the real ‘Complicata’ or not?

Website/Catalog  (2017)  
 
Translation from the website of Roberto Viti "Museo Giardino della Rosa Antica":

Roses become the passion of Jules Graveraux a French businessman who, at the age of 44, is all about dedicating himself to this flower. In 1902, Graveraux brought together more than 6000 species and varieties in its Hay Rosette near Paris. Graveraux has the ambition to bring together all existing roses. In the list of roses also appears Rosa Complicata. But the first interesting piece of information comes from the research of the botanist Grenier. Jean Charles Marie Grenier (1808-1875), Doctor of Medicine, Professor of Zoology and Botany At the Faculty of Sciences in Besançon, France, he has been interested in botany since childhood. Over the years, studies and responsibilities at the University have kept him from dedicating himself to his collection of plants in Doubs, in the region known by all as Jura. During these years he studied and collected a large number of rare plants covering a surface of 200km long and 30 to 80km wide. The publications of this period include: Flore de France (1845-1855), Flore de la Chaine Jurassique (1865). In Flore de France there is no mention of Rosa Complicata but in 1864 Grenier described it as a variant of R. Reuteri In 1885, the voice of the Kewensis Index for Rosa Complicata reported the phrase "= glauca" and similarly it is written that "R . reuteri = Glauca ". One has to be careful because this is not the popular R. Glauca Pourr (1788) with its blue-purple leaves and crimson stamens.
Only recently the name R. Rubrifollia Vill. was replaced by R. glauca Pourr, as noted by Bean. He himself points out that the well known and used glauca epitaph, which replaced R. reuteri just before 1885, should now be called R. Afzeliana Fries. However, according to the list of wild roses cataloged at the Rosary of Sangerhausen (1988) this name was replaced by R. Dumalis Bechst. (1810). This species has a similar resemblance to R. Reuteri but also two remarkable differences: the flower instead of being a bright rose and a pale pink, and the habitat that is not the area of fir trees (800-1000 mm) but higher up. The Rosa Complicata name, embellished with such a delicious and simple rose, with its 5 petals of a brilliant magenta rose, with vigorous growth, has really given rise to numerous theories.
In the Bulletin of Historic Roses Group Dr Aidan Daniel and Peter Harkness (1993) it is consider that the fold in the center of the petals might be the explanation. This is plausible, as is also the idea that the double lamellae has inspired Grenier to coin this epithet. The great number of roses and their related varieties cataloged in the nineteenth century indicate that the availability of names was poor even though, reading the studies of the time it is evident that a great effort was made to find the Latin and Greek proper name.
The first Botanist to make a reasoned catalog of native roses in Europe is Belgian Francois Crepin (1830 - 1903) but the study and analysis of wild roses in situ is still limited in its application. Grenier, in the Jura region, lists 45 species he himself personally analyzed, many of which are still divided into three or four variants as in R. Reuteri's case and he himself declares defeated in his method of analyzing carpels . As with R. canina's complex group, Grenier asserts that the only method of analysis would be sowing seeds in order to highlight differences, since on the same branch of a wild rose there may be significant differences, such as the shape of the streaks. The Complicata of Grenier obviously had to be part of the collection of wild roses in Jules Graveraux's Rosarium L'Haÿ, provided by Otto Froebel's nursery in Zurich, Switzerland. Otto Froebel studied horticulture and is part of an ancient family of gardeners. In its catalog 1994-95 [should read 1894-95], Complicata also appears with 31 other rose species, which were added at the end of the 19th century. 34. Froebel is the ideal supplier for Graveraux, especially for R. Complicata.
It is in 1902 that Complicata Grenier joins the l'Hay Rosarium, but its wild rose classification does not explain the extraordinary size of its flowers that can reach 12 cm in diameter, neither vigorous growth nor prolific bloom. In 1922, while Complicata's original was still at the l'Hay Rosarium, French botanist Mugnier discovers a hybrid he thinks may be a R. Gallica x R. Glauca Vill. Ex Loisel, in the Haute-Marne area, near Langres, 340 meters above sea level, which is then about 80 km from the Jura area of ​​Grenier. Mugnier emphasizes that R. Gallica rarely grows in the mountains while R. Glauca Vill. Ex Loisel rarely goes down to the plain. But R. Gallica easily hybrids with its own kind. Mugnier consulted another botanist, Lambert, to examine his findings and both agreed to decide that it was a hybrid R. Gallica x R. Glauca Vill. as described by H. Christ (1833- 1933) The same hybrid is spotted in Saxony by the rose expert and scholar of orchids Max Schulze's who gave it the name of R. Gallica X R. Glauca var. complicata. It is possible that knowing the rose planted in l'Hay before 1902, Schulze believed that the hybrid rose from Saxony could explain the unusual characteristics of this pink species preserved in the rose rose of L'Hay. The botanical description provided by Mugnier corresponds mainly to the description of the sepals, to the Rosa complicata Grenier, but the prickles and the bristles resemble those of R. Gallica. It brings new light on this issue with the "DNA Fingerprinting" analysis, in which Lyon's Biological Systems Institute [Institut d'Analyse des Systemes Biologiques] is specialized. Chromatographic analysis of petals reveals that Complicata shows peaks from 5 to 17, 19 and 21. Complicata is closer to R. Gallica than to R. Canina. The rose usually has 21 peaks distributed according to the species. The description that Otto Froebel of the Complicata in his 1901 catalog does not look like the current spectacular flower.
However, since it can spontaneously hybridize with a Gallica, which obviously was already part of Froebel's nursery, it is possible that Froebel, unintentionally was sending to Jules Graveraux at the rosarium of L'Hay, one of the seedlings born before flowering . Those are the plants that produce the impressive hybrids known today. Ignoring the origin of its transformation, we know that Complicata becomes famous for being part of the Rosarium of L'Hay, the first complete collection of roses in the world. Its vigor and its beauty immediately attract all lovers of roses.
Source: Rosa Complicata, Rosaceae by Barbara Jellet, Maurice Jay, Olivier Raymond, published in "Curtis's Botanical Magazine", May 1997.

Website/Catalog  (2017)  
 
http://www.coppelmans.nl/Plant/rosa-ariana-d-algier

Rosa 'Ariana d'Algier'
Latijnse naamRosa 'Ariana d'Algier'
Nederlandse naamGallicaroos
TypeHeesters
Standplaatslicht schaduw en zon
Vochtvochthoudend
Grondvoedselarm
Zuurzuur tot zwak zuur
WintergroenNee
BloeimaandenJuni

De nederlandse naam is Gallicaroos, familie van de Rosaceae. De bloemkleur is roze + wit en de bloeitijd is van ca. juni. De bladeren zijn groen. De volwassen hoogte van deze middelgrote heester is ca. 300 cm. Verdraagt een temperatuur tot -20 gr. C. De geadviseerde plantafstand is 100 cm. (1 st. per m2.) Is goed verkrijgbaar.
Doet het goed bij wat extremere situaties, zoals duin- en/of heidebeplanting. Deze plant wenst een voedselarme, vochthoudende zandige of veenhoudende bodem met een zwakzure tot neutrale zuurgraad (pH = 5 - 7). Verlangt een plekje in de zon of lichte schaduw. Bij voorkeur uit de middagzon. Deze plant is door zijn vorm lastig met hoge vaste planten te combineren.

Magazine  (14 Jan 2004)  Includes photo(s).
 
[From "Rosa Complicata" by Barbara Jellett, Maurice Jay and Olivier Raymond]
Rosa ‘Complicata’, a widely cultivated rose recently investigated by ‘fingerprinting’ techniques, is shown to have a surprisingly uncomplicated history. The origin of this rose is explored and its connection with the wild Rosa complicata Grenier (1864), which was described from the French Jura, is discussed. A colour illustration and description are provided.

Magazine  (2002)  Page(s) 21. Vol 96, Part 1.  
 
Nicholas Dodson Coleman Sings the Praise of the Single Rose.
Also classed as a somewhat unlikely Gallica, although its origins appear unknown, is 'Complicata'.....

Book  (2001)  Page(s) 35.  
 
Hybrid Gallica. Rated 8.8

Book  (2000)  Page(s) 173.  Includes photo(s).
 
‘Complicata’/’Ariana d’Algier’: Gallique... robustes rameaux gris-vert, irrégulièrement parsemés d’aiguillons… abondant feuillage persistant tard en saison… grandes églantines (8 à 10cm de diamètre)… léger parfum de miel… Indemne de maladies, il tolère les sols médiocres et les grands froids.

Book  (Apr 1999)  Page(s) 39.  
 
Complicata Gallica. Breeder unknown, date uncertain. The author cites information from different sources... Pink, large, single, light scent... Perhaps a Rosa canina or R. macrantha hybrid... pure brilliant pink, paling to white around the circle of yellow stamens...

Book  (Mar 1999)  Page(s) 16.  
 
Useful as a climber in cold climates

Website/Catalog  (23 Oct 1998)  Page(s) 39.  Includes photo(s).