Rosa gigantea is a species of rose native to northeast India, northern Myanmar and southwest China (Yunnan) in the foothills of the Himalaya at 1000-1500 m altitude. As its name suggests, it is the largest species of rose, climbing 20 m or more into the crowns of other trees by means of its stout, hooked thorns, and with a trunk up to 50 cm diameter. The leaves are semi-evergreen, 15-25 cm long, pinnate, with usually 7 leaflets, each leaflet 4-8 cm long. The flowers are white, creamy or yellow, the largest of any wild rose, 10-14 cm diameter. The hips are yellow or orange, 2.5-3.5 cm diameter, hard, and often lasting through the winter into the following spring, often still present at the same time as the next years' flowers.
Another rose, described from Manipur in 1888 as R. macrocarpa and R. xanthocarpa by Sir George Watt, an authority on Indianroses, is now generally considered to be the same species as R. gigantea. The distinct characteristics claimed for R. macrocarpa (deeper yellow flowers, larger foliage with 4 to 7 leaflets and large yellow fruits) are not consistent.
Rosagigantea was found in the year 1888 by the late Gen. Sir Henry Collett in the Shan Hills, Upper Burma, at an elevation of 4000 to 5000 feet.
gigantea and the 4 to 7 leaflets of the broader and larger foliate of R.
Rosa Leschenaulti is described by those who have seen it in its native mountains as being so luxuriant that it festoons the trees to a height of 60 to 70 feet with trails of pure white flowers, making a sight never to be forgotten.
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