Rosa wichurana hybrids 'Alberic Barbier'
(W.R.S., D.R.G.)
N.: Kohukohu (junction of Mangakahia and Awarua Rivers, N. Auckland), Raukakore (E. Bay of Plenty), Seatoun (Wellington).
Cultivated hybrid 1966
Roadsides and riverbanks, sometimes in nearby scrub and cut-over forest.
cv. 'Alberic Barbier' is keyed out separately because it belongs to a different group of wichuraiana hybrid ramblers to the others mentioned here [Thomas in Bean (1980, op. cit.)]. In the `Alberic Barbier' group the other parent is most probably R. gigantea or a hybrid of it. This has resulted in ramblers with glossy foliage which is more resistant to the prevalent rose mildew fungus and with larger fls than in members of the other group. Other cvs of the `Alberic Barbier' group are cultivated in N.Z. and have probably spread from cultivation. The commonest of them in cultivation seems to be the double, pink-flowered cv. 'Albertine'. This may be represented by CHR 243422, Kiripaka, near Whangarei, Sykes, 10.12.1987; the specimen has lvs and double pink fls which match `Alberic Barbier' in size.
