Abstract
The present work reports the discovery and the complete characterisation of an ancient cultivated rose variety found growing in a private garden in the southwest of the Principality of Asturias (northern Spain). The variety is here given the name Narcea. The majority of roses currently cultivated belong to the so-called group of ‘Modern Roses’, all of which were obtained after 1867 via artificial crosses and improvement programmes. All are destined for ornamental use. Until the 19th century, the great majority of the many ancient cultivated roses in Europe were used in perfumery and cosmetics, or had medicinal uses. Rosa damascena and Rosa centifollia are still grown and used by the French and Bulgarian perfume industries. The Asturian Massif of the Cantabrian Mountain Range provides a natural habitat for some 75% of the wild members of the genus Rosa, but until now there was no evidence that this area was home to ancient cultivated roses. A complete botanical description is here provided for a discovered ancient rose. It is also characterised according to a series of sequence tagged microsatellite sites, and its agronomic features are reported. In addition, a histological description (optical and scanning electronic microscope studies) of the petals is offered, along with an analysis of the volatile compounds present in these organs as determined by solid phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. The results reveal the uniqueness of this ancient type of rose and suggest it may be of interest to the perfume industry.
Highlights
This work describes an ancient cultivated rose variety found growing in a private garden in western Asturias
The first thing to understand when discussing roses is that wild roses—those found growing along paths and Correspondence: María-Carmen Martínez 1Misión Biológica de Galicia (CSIC), Carballeira 8, Salcedo 36143 Pontevedra, Spain 2Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos y Nutrición (CSIC) (Spain), C/José Antonio Novais 10, 28040
Plant material and climate of the area where it was found The examined plant material is from a very old, cultivated, domesticated type of rose found growing in the private garden of a house in the small village of Carballo (Concejo de Cangas del Narcea, in the Principality of Asturias, northern Spain), which nestles in the valley of the River Cibea
Summary
This work describes an ancient cultivated rose variety found growing in a private garden in western Asturias (northern Spain). The first thing to understand when discussing roses is that wild roses—those found growing along paths and In their wild state, roses are generally simple plants with a single row of petals and numerous stamens[3]. In the first half of the 19th century, authors[3] reported there to be over 100 species of cultivated rose within the genus Rosa, all from the northern hemisphere and with none from further south than 25°N They indicated that the cultivated roses of their time were rustic and abundant in southern Europe, and so numerous that many hybridisations are thought to have occurred ( in those days it was very hard to know the parent types involved or where they came from)
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