Book  (2018)  Page(s) 545.  
 
Rosa villosa L.
Europe (except the northern edges), Caucasia, Iran and Turkey...

Article (magazine)  (2008)  Page(s) 65.  
 
Table 3.
R. villosa L. Ploidy=4

Book  (2001)  Page(s) 237.  Includes photo(s).
 
Rosa villosa L. Apfel-Rose. To 3 m. Slim prickles, fully straight. 5-7 leaflets, elongated-ellipsoid, doubly or more glandular serrated, above downy, beneath wooly to tomentose, with numerous, generally yellow to red glands, generally non-fragrant, bluish-green. Petals pink, on the upper edges slightly glandular ciliate. Sepals foliaceous, erect after blooming, persistent. Style channel always > 2mm broad, the diameter sinks below 2 mm only with a very small discus. Stigma hat-shaped, broadly sitting, woolly. Pedicel usually shorter than the globular, densely glandular-bristly fruit, genrally drooping after ripening....
Populations can be very tall (over 3m), large foliage (end leaflets until over 5 cm) and large fruit; indigenous populations are knee to shoulder-high, and smaller in all parts.

Article (magazine)  (2001)  Page(s) 393.  
 
R. pomifera Herrm. Ploidy 5x
Pollen fertility 30.7%
Selfed Fruit set 14.7%
Selfed Seed set 3.0%

Book  (2001)  Page(s) 534.  Includes photo(s).
 
Species group Rosa tomentosa Sm.
1-1.5 m high shrubs with straight or slightly curved, but never sickle-shaped prickles, to 1 cm, strongly expanded only at their base. 5-7 leaflets, oval glandular doubly serrated, both sides downy pubescent, grey-green beneath, with or without glands. Blooms light to dark red, diameter 3-4.5 cm. 2 petals foliaceous, 2 entire, one foliaceous one one side, upright or reflexed after blooming, mostly persistent, with many glands and glandular bristles. Fruit bright red, generally with glands and glandular bristles.

Rosa villosa L. Rosier pommier, Rosier velu, Rosa porno. Braches and prickles straight. Foliage generally wholly glandular beneath. Sepals longer than petals, persistent. June. Stony slopes, rock crevices, hilly-mountaneous areas....2n=28. R. villosa L. ssp. pomifera (Herrm.) Crép.

Book  (2001)  Page(s) 444.  
 
Rosa villosa L., Sp. Pl. (1753) 704.
Rosa pomifera Herrm., De Rosa (1762) 16; R. hispida hort. ex Poir., Encycl. 6 (1804) 286; R. villosa γ pomifera Desv. in J. Bot. 2 (1813) 117.
Downy rose; German Apfelrose; Weichhaarige rose; French rosier pommifére, rose pommier; Spanish rosal vellosos; Russian roza jabločnaja.
Central and N Europe, European Russia, Caucasus, Transcaucasus, Asia Minor.
Within this area cultivated for the fruits. In Slovakia the cultivar 'Karpatia' is grown, in Central Germany only cultivation trials. Cultivated as hedges for wind protection, locally also as an ornamental shrub.
Ref.: Albrecht 1993, 191 pp.; Hegi IV (2), 1923; Scheerer & Dapper 1980, 136 pp.; Vul'f & Maleeva 1969, 566 pp.

Book  (2000)  Page(s) 57.  
 
Rosa pomifera / ‘Apple Rose’ / Rosa villosa = Botanique – rose moyen. Description.. Europe et Asie.

Book  (Feb 1999)  Page(s) 11.  
 
R. villosa... pink, single flowers followed by showy hips that resemble small apples.

Book  (Nov 1998)  Page(s) 11.  
 
R. villosa Also known as 'The Apple Rose'... native throughout Europe. Its foliage smells like ripe apples. Flowers: pink, fragrant. Hips: large, apple-shaped, crimson, symmetrically covered with bristles...

Book  (May 1998)  Page(s) 48-49.  Includes photo(s).
 
Rosa villosa ('Shaggy Rose', 'Rosier Velu, Pomifère') Description... petals 5, clear red in cultivated plants but sometimes off-white in the wild... very large bristly heps give it the name 'Apple Rose'... In some countries the heps are dried and eaten in winter like prunes, or are made into an agreeable conserve...