Philip, Clinophylla germinates like grass without stratification.
When I read Louisiana I got a mental image of thousands of hips bobbing along in the Mississippi then being pushed way up into the bayou by a storm surge.
Clinophylla colonizes in wet areas in and around the Ganges in India. It will grow in standing water.
Louisiana is likely the promised land to a rose of this type
Oh…
Maybe I shouldn’t be too willing to share nor give to Bot. Garden… They may not work to contain offspring, and a well-intentioned staff member is even likely to share or sell rooted cuttings…
I appreciate the heads-up then… I have a big bugaboo about folks distributing invasive species…
Thoughts?
On another line, do folks think R.c. would hybridize with R. banksia lutescens? Would offspring likely be fertile?
Phillip, I only wanted you to be aware of the danger clinophylla might pose. It grew like a weed here. I can only imagine what it might do there.
My attempts at using clinophylla as seed parent failed. It’s hard to catch the blossoms before they shed pollen. I only tried it one season.
I abandoned the species in favor of the Viraraghavan hybrids.
Sometimes it’s best not to try and reinvent the wheel, especially when the hard part has been done.
I am struggling with the same ethical dilema with another species; R. rubiginosa. Around these parts R. rubiginosa has been declared a noxious weed but it this very trait that makes it appealing to me for cross-breeding and I am very tempted to grab a few cuttings to grow here and use in a controlled manner to try and introduce some hybrid vigour into some more intensively bred varieties… what to do… what to do… 
Hi Robert,
Are any of the Viraraghavan hybrids in general circulation?
Thanks
Rod
Hi Simon,
I tried to breed from R. rubiginosa, but getting seedlings that retain a good foliage scent is not easy. Now I am using ‘Refulgence’ - pollen is useless, but will set hips.
Rod
Rod, yes, here is a listing of clinophylla descendants. They are fertile.
Link: www.helpmefind.com/rose/pl.php?n=55856&tab=21&lstTyp=256
Simon, if you really feel you must not grow R. eglanteria (rubiginosa) under any circumstance, then do follow Paul’s advice and grow a close hybrid; ‘Magnifica’ (the eglanteria, not the rugosa!) has been used extensively in breeding sweet briar traits, including foliage scent, into many hybrids. There are also the Penzance hybrids, from which ‘Magnifica’ is supposed to be derived (as a ‘Lucy Ashton’ seedling). I don’t know how easy these roses are to find in Australia, or if you can import them from abroad with any less difficulty than we can in the U.S. Another benefit to this is that you are likely to be a generation or two closer to producing garden-worthy roses than you would be starting with a wild species (particularly one with Caninae-type meiosis).
My feeling about growing the species is, if it’s already growing out of control as a noxious weed all around anyway, then one plant in the care of a capable and vigilant gardener is practically the safest place it can be. Maybe someday, if your government ever manages to really get it under serious control, you can decide to re-evaluate the situation.
Forewarned is forearmed on invasive plants.
Robert, I don’t think there is any evidence that R. clinophylla is invasive in India, Bangladesh, Thailand or anywhere else in Asia where its native habitat is far more southern than Louisiana. Yes, it’s preferred habitat is wet places, the banks of streams, but it is not so common as to be considered invasive there, where it is much hotter and wetter. In fact, it’s considered a threatened species in India and a rare plant in Bangladesh.
The out of control, invasive roses that are pests in the USA were deliberately spread around irresponsibly, multiflora by the railroad, laevigata for property boundaries, was it? Having a single specimen of Rosa clinophylla is a far cry from sticking thousands of sticks in the soil to mark property lines.
I hear you Cass, but plants that become invasive are seldom a pest in their native lands. In such areas natural control mechanisms have time to evolve.
All it takes is one hurricane or hungry bird or rat to take clinophylla from cultivation to the wilds.
It was scary vigorous here. It also root suckers. It’s something to be aware of regardless.
The U.S. and others are having a terrible time at present with invasive species.
It doesn’t have to set viable hips to be invasive either… haven’t they proven that R. laevigata spread in the US from suckers and cuttings and not by seed? With such a movement BACK to species for the purpose of reintroducing vigour and health at the moment it is a difficult decision for me as being in a zone 9 area bordering on zone 8 where we get frequent freezes in winter and snow but hot dry summers to 30 degrees Celcius I think most species roses would go nuts here. I think with my R. rubiginosa issue I’ll wait until I can properly quarantine it and maybe then use it.
Paul, I just wanted to mention that I received the seeds yesterday and sowed them this morning after an overnight soak. Despite the post office’s best efforts to destroy them, a few seeds managed to avoid drying out completely, and I am hopeful. Thank you so much for sending them!
I was given exactly four very dry clinophylla seed. Two germinated.
Rosa clinophylla Habit: 11 leaflets.
Height of 35" to 47" (90 to 120 cm).
Robert
Your large clinophylla plants are more than likely from clinophylla x bracteata Viru’s seeds.
As he had (has?) a large clinophylla x bracteata plant with ample OP hips Viru Viragavan did send these seeds when asked for clinophylla ones.
I sowed some and got a dozen rather homogeneous progeny. All differing clearly from bracteata in being more slender and smaller leaved and stemmed. Flower comparable.
Hi Pierre. No, the clinophylla seed I grew out the first time were those first distributed by Gene Waering early on. These were distributed about the same time Paul Barden received his seed.
I also grew out several clinophylla x bracteata seedlings but gave away all but one.
Thanks Paul. Recieved the see the seed the other day. And planted them today. Hopefully the seed was not affected too much by the cold weather too much, because I think they where in the mail box for a few days since I was out of town.
Bon jour, Pierre,
The size for Rosa clinophylla was added to HMF before anyone knew how it would grow in cultivation in the USA. The information has been revised to reflect a large range of sizes. In the garden, it is hard to imagine Rosa clinophylla at only one meter. Possibly in harsher conditions or in the wild that would be possible. My plant grew to two meters in its first season in the ground.
A few botanical details are posted on HMF. They match the botanical descriptions - the wooly buds, the uniquely divided stipules, the chocolate-colored canes, the downy lower surface of the leaflets and the bracts.
Apologies then…
When asking for clinophylla I got clinophylla x bracteata seeds from Viru.
How do true species clins compare with clin x brac?
Pierre, I found the clinophylla x bracteata seedlings to be quite variable.
Some were more like bracteata and some resembled clinophylla but they were all different and all intermediate in phenotype.
I found some of the original clinophylla seedlings I grew out looked dwarf in nature for a time and then began to show their true nature as they gained maturity. I take this to be some kind of juvenile phase.
For me, R. clinophylla plants have yet to exceed 4 X 4 feet in size.
Paul