Endangered China rose species spotted in SW China

This photo taken on April 14, 2024 shows Rosa lucidissima at the Foding Mountain nature reserve in Shiqian County, southwest China's Guizhou Province. (Photo by Wu Xu/Xinhua)

GUIYANG, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese researchers have discovered Rosa lucidissima, a critically endangered species of Rosa chinensis, commonly known as China rose, in southwest China's Guizhou Province.

A joint expedition team from the Foding Mountain nature reserve administration and the College of Forestry of Guizhou University first discovered the species in the Foding Mountain nature reserve in Shiqian County.

"In a field survey in April, we located four plants of Rosa lucidissima at about 700 meters above sea level. The roses swirled up the trees, with eye-catching red flowers hanging from the branches," said Wu Xu, a team member from the College of Forestry of Guizhou University.

As an endemic Chinese species, Rosa lucidissima is sporadically distributed in southern and central China and its wild population is extremely rare. It is on China's red list of biodiversity as a critically endangered species.

Botanists believe that the national second-class protected wild plant species is the primitive form of China rose. Further study on it would offer an insight into the origin and evolution of the rose plants, which could provide an important reference for rose genetics breeding and ecological protection.