Rosa gallica "Violacea" (La Belle Sultane)

Like a gallica, but with the flowers ageing from crimson to a dusky violet-purple contrasting well with the golden stamens. This rose is worth growing for its wonderful colour alone, and as part of any collection of gallicas.

As it is not quite typical of R. gallica it is not thought of as a sport. Instead it appears to be one of the first "hybrid gallicas", although what R. gallica was crossed with to produce this beauty is unknown, a secret that the 18th century has not divulged.

In petal number, it hovers somewhere between single and semi-double. A richly coloured mystery.