'Hume’s Blush Tea-Scented China' Rose

PICTURE SOURCE Choix des Plus Belles Fleurs (1827-33)

ORIGINAL BOTANICAL NAME Rosa Indica fragrans

ORIGINAL FRENCH NAME Rosier des Indes odorant (vulg. Bengale á odeur de thé)

CURRENT BOTANTICAL NAME R. chinensis x gigantea

COMMON NAME Hume’s Blush Tea-Scented China

OTHER NAMES R x odorata (Andrews) Sweet, Odorata

CLASS Tea

ORIGIN Old cultivator from China, introduced to Britain 1809

FLOWERING Repeat flowering

SCENT Strong, tea fragrance

GROWTH Medium shrub to 6 feet (1.8 metres) in warmer climates

AVAILABILITY Doubt whether roses sold by this name are in fact the original

At left; picture of the rose, Hume’s Blush Tea-Scented China, R. chinensis x gigantea, painted by Pierre-Joseph Redouté, portrait 08 out of 17, Choix des Plus Belles Fleurs (1827-33)

This appears to be another portrait of Hume’s Blush Tea-Scented China published earlier by Redouté in Les Roses, although in Choix it is labelled with the botanical name ‘Rosa Indica’, and the French name ‘Grande Indienne’