" The all Rosa x damascena trigintipetala varieties were clustered in one clade with Rosa persica and Rosa roxburghii. The genetic distance and tree topology specified that the Taif Roses varieties could be originated from Rosa persica and Rosa roxburghii."
See:
https://www.isisn.org/BR15(4)2018/4355-4361-15(4)2018BR18-539.pdf
Doesn’t this contradict Iwata et al who identifed moschata, gallica and fedschenkoana as the parents of damascena (and who this Saudi paper does not cite)?
It seems odd that they would use a lot of Cinnamomeae section species in their analysis (many that are North American) and not include the reported progenitors of R. x damascena from previous studies. R. persica and R. roxburghii may be just the closest of what they sampled and making this extension as to origin of these Damask roses seems a bit of a stretch…
To be fair they are analyzing Kazanlik (trigentipetala) and not damascena Mill, which is what Iwata analyzed. Maybe there is something to it although the images I found for the Taif varietal show no evidence of roxburghii except for color and polypetally.
Tracking plants through the competing historical synonyms can be a pain between the ears. This is from my own experience.
Linnaeus admitted that he had trouble distinguishing. Or, rather, he had trouble finding a small set of traits that could distinguish them reliably. As a result, his Rosa centifolia included forms that Miller (1768) chose to separate. Specifically, R. centifolia L includes forms that Miller and others have named damascena.
http://bulbnrose.x10.mx/Roses/Ehret/LinnaeusRosa1753.html
http://bulbnrose.x10.mx/Roses/Ehret/MillerRoses1768.html
A few years ago I was surprised to learn that R. centifolia was regarded as THE fragrant rose … at least among the English. I read of pertetual roses that were as sweet as the Centifolia, and reports that the attar produced in India from this species was of a higher quality than that produced in Europe.
Bujt then I happened upon an article by K. Koch (1879). “We know well, however, that in more modern times the Centifolia has been extensively cultivated in the plains of Adrianople and on the south side of the mountains Bermion for the manufacture of perfumes, but more especially for the celebrated attah of Roses. According to the recent researches of Mr. Baker of Kew the Rose of Adrianople is not in reality a Centifolia, but a Damask Rose, which alone supplies the true essence of Roses of Oriental India, Cashmere, and Morocco.”
http://bulbnrose.x10.mx/Roses/Ehret/KochOldRoses1879.html
http://bulbnrose.x10.mx/Roses/Ehret/HolmesRoses1892.html
Apparently not everyone got the memo. As late as 1918, Pemberton identified R. centifolia as the Damask rose.
http://bulbnrose.x10.mx/Roses/breeding/PembertonPerfume1918.html