Rosa giraldii

Rosa giraldii Crép. (syn: Rosa angreni Sumn.; Rosa beschnauensis Sumn.; Rosa botryoides Sumn.; Rosa nanothamnus Boulenger; Rosa vitaminifera Sumn.; Rosa webbiana var. microphylla Crép.);

China (Gansu, Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan), C-Asia, Pamir, Alai, Pakistan (Kurram, Chitral, Swat), Pakistani Kashmir (Baltistan), Jammu & Kashmir (Kashmir) as per Catalogue of Life;

Images by Gurcharan Singh (Inserted by J.M.Garg) (for complete discussions & more images, pl. click on the links) 

Rosa webbiana Wall. ex Royle, Ill. Bot. Himal. Mount. 208. t. 42. f. 2. 1839.
Shrub with thin flexuous twigs; yellowish-brown twigs; prickles uniform or mixed with bristles, usually in pairs, straight or or ascending, absent on flowering stems; leaves with  leaflets 5-9, simply or doubly serrulate, 1-2 cm long, elliptic to obovate; flowers solitary or 3-5 in a cluster, 3-5 cm diam., red, pink or white, pedicel often with stalked glands; sepals entire, shorter, persistent; hip oblong-ovoid, 1-2 cm in diam,  ovoid or globose, glabrous, red when mature.
Looking similar to R. macrophylla but with smaller lesser leaflets, shorter calyx tips and shorter ovoid hips without glands.
Photographed from above Cheshmashahi in Srinagar, Kashmir first week of July
Stewart considered this to be Rosa nanothamnus Boulenger - which I see is AN ACCEPTED NAME  See: http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/rjp-15354.
Stewart records it from N.Pakistan & Kashmir @ 1500-2700m incl. Jhelum Valley, Ganderbal, above Dal Lake and Pahlgam.

Rosaceae Week: Rosa webbiana from Srinagar, Kashmir:  
Rosa webbiana Wall. ex Royle, Ill. Bot. Himal. Mount. 208. t. 42. f. 2. 1839.
Shrub with thin flexuous twigs; yellowish-brown twigs; prickles uniform or mixed with bristles, usually in pairs, straight or or ascending, absent on flowering stems; leaves with  leaflets 5-9, simply or doubly serrulate, 1-2 cm long, elliptic to obovate; flowers solitary or 3-5 in a cluster, 3-5 cm diam., red, pink or white, pedicel often with stalked glands; sepals entire, shorter, persistent; hip oblong-ovoid, 1-2 cm in diam,  ovoid or globose, glabrous, red when mature.
Looking similar to R. macrophylla but with smaller lesser leaflets, shorter calyx tips and shorter ovoid hips without glands.
Photographed from above Cheshmashahi in Srinagar, Kashmir first week of July
This seems to be Rosa nanothamnus.

Fwd: Rosa nanothamnus Boulenger : 4 posts by 2 authors.
Having checked in response to an inquiry about Rosa webbiana in Ladakh, I note that R.nanothamnus is an accepted name, see: http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/rjp-15354 
I plan to post images I have of a dwarf form of this rose taken in the Kohli Memorial Botanical Garden - showing delightful pastel pink shades.
I consider this DISTINCT from Rosa webbiana.
Further on checking,
Catalogue of Life shows it as a synonym of Rosa giraldii Crép. with distribution as China (Gansu, Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan), C-Asia, Pamir, Alai, Pakistan (Kurram, Chitral, Swat), Pakistani Kashmir (Baltistan), Jammu & Kashmir (Kashmir)
Thanks for checking this.
I have to say that my INITIAL thoughts are that I have my doubts as to the validity of including R.nanothamnus under R.giraldii.  The latter rose species certainly has a wide distribution.
Given the 'critical' nature of Rosa in many parts of the world and the likelihood of its complexities, then how can the authors be certain?
A quick look at the pressed specimens under this name (collected in the early 20th Century in China) do not match well what I understand to be R.nanothamnus from Kashmir.
Whatever the reality, it is further evidence of the complexity of the genus.  Should we be preparing ourselves to be informed that what we thought was R.macrophylla throughout the Himalaya is in fact a different taxon or a number of different taxa? 
I shall post separately about Rosa sericea in the Eastern Himalaya.
This is also further evidence to tell us we must be ALERT to both taxonomic changes and nomenclatural changes for ALL genera in the Himalaya!  Talk about "shifting sands"...
Such changes must seem DAUNTING to many members of this group.
PLANT IDENTIFICATION is NOT as quick, easy and straightforward as is widely believed.


Comments