It's curious that, going by the HMF description, somewhere this rose could ever be mauve! Hard to imagine with the saturated beetroot purple colour I get.

The scent is true damask (I take Quatre Saisons as the type, not the the scent of certain hybrid teas such as Etoile de Hollande, which, to my mind, is misdescribed as damask) but with an infusion of spice. GST says, I think, that rugosas have a damask scent with added clove. But here the spice is more nutmeg than cloves.

I have Basye's Purple in front of my house in the middle of Germany next to Rotes Phänomen standing in the shade of a large Thuja tree, 8 feet away from the stem. They are not doing very well in shade. But the difference between these two roses is very marked. The flowers of Rotes Phänomen are larger and they are partly filled, not single. Even the foliage of Rotes Phänomen is fuller, slightly larger, just like most Rugosa. Basye's Purple has slightly more sparse foliage, not quite as crumpled as with most Rugosa and more spindly branches, not easily forming a dense bush, at least not in more shady places. But both show some flowers over the year. The single flowers of Basye's Purple only last a day or two.
I have Therese Bugnet in the same position and she is doing so much better than the other two, all three of them being rugosas. But what a difference!

Interesting the comment that all parts are red, including inside the canes. Basye's Purple exhibits that trait, too. Cutting any of the wood and looking at the interior in cross section will remind you of cutting and looking into a purple onion. The pollen is dark purple! Kim