With reference to the Phys.org news below, I have attached the shortened Nature publication cited there and one complete study to this issue.(last link)
![pic_article_phys_org|544x453]
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I think this is actually relatively well understood by many at this point, although more scientific evidence is always welcome. Rosarians have long understood that R. gigantea is an outsized contributor to the genomes of modern roses through its hybrid, R. ×odorata, the tea rose. The general confusion about the nature of their relationship might be part of the problem here: R. gigantea is frequently (but incorrectly) referred to as “R. odorata var. gigantea” in what should be an obviously ridiculous botanical role reversal.
Whenever rosarians have spoken about the disproportionate contribution of tea roses to the genome of modern roses (at least when referring to hybrid teas and their closest relatives), they were of course only referring to R. ×odorata by its common name. Two of the four so-called “Stud Chinas”, ‘Hume’s Blush Tea-Scented China’ and ‘Parks’ Yellow Tea-scented China’, might have been responsible for a significant share of that genetic contribution, although there hasn’t been much in the way of specific molecular investigation along those lines.
The line between R. ×odorata and R. ×chinensis is itself quite blurry, in part because R. ×chinensis is the other parent of R. ×odorata along with R. gigantea. The species ancestry of cultivated R. ×chinensis seems to be a bit less well studied and is still poorly understood at this point, but the so-called “R. chinensis var. spontanea” is probably just an unnamed ancestor of the cultivated hybrid, much like R. gigantea is an ancestor of R. ×odorata. The hybrid seems to involve other species such as R. multiflora. Since the well-known hybrid was given the name R. chinensis first, any wild species ancestor of that hybrid may not and should not share its name.
Stefan
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Thank you so much for taking the time to review. This makes it easier to understand the situation.