Newsletter  (May 2015)  Page(s) 25.  
 
[From "Suckering Roses Revisited", by Darrell g.h. Schramm, pp. 23-27]
The Gallica hybrids, such as ‘Belle de Crecy (pre-1829), ‘Cardinal de Richelieu’ (1840), and ‘Charles de Mills’ (pre-1790) sucker somewhat thickly, sometimes reproducing themselves as though marching in a phalanx or military band on parade. As such, they create huge, long bushes.

Article (magazine)  (2009)  Page(s) 31.  
 
Cardinal de Richelieu  Source RJBM [Réal Jardin Botanico Madrid] Chromosome Number 21

Article (magazine)  (2006)  Page(s) 71.  
 
ʻCardinal de Richelieuʼ and ʻHermosaʼ, whose proper apportionment to Hybrid China or Gallica (ʻCardinal de Richelieuʼ) and to Hybrid China or Bourbon (ʻHermosaʼ) is uncertain, clustered in the Rosa section and thus may indeed belong to the Gallica and Bourbon groups, respectively.

Book  (2002)  Page(s) 30.  
 
Hybrid Gallica. Rated 7.8

Book  (2000)  Page(s) 144.  Includes photo(s).
 
‘Cardinal de Richelieu/’Cardinal Richelieu’/’Rose van Sian’ = Gallique. Toujours aussi apprécié depuis plus d’un siècle et demi, c’est l’un des plus généreux des galliques… description… Il gagne à être nourri, taillé et éclairci. Richelieu (1585-1642) fut un ministre de Louis XIII. Parmentier, Belgique, avant 1847.

Website/Catalog  (4 Jan 1999)  Page(s) 20.  Includes photo(s).

Book  (Dec 1998)  Page(s) 144.  Includes photo(s).
 
Cardinal de Richelieu Gallica. Parmentier (Belgium) pre-1847. Description...

Book  (Nov 1998)  Page(s) 21.  
 
Cardinal de Richelieu Gallica. Description. One of the darkest of all roses... deep purple... responds well to severe pruning.

Website/Catalog  (24 Oct 1998)  Page(s) 31.  Includes photo(s).

Book  (Jul 1998)  Page(s) 204.  Includes photo(s).
 
Cardinal de Richelieu.
Parmentier (Belgium), before 1847.
Habit: 1,20 to 1,50 m tall (but may attain 2,50 to 3 m), 1 m diameter, compact; few prickles. Young shoots very reddish. Foliage: young foliage also reddish; dark gree, abundant; elliptical leaflets. Bloom: very double; small petalsarranged in the manner of a pompon rose. Colour: violet mauve, slightly velvety (the base of the petals becomes very light); fades to Parma blue. Fragrance: weak.
Sources: Van Houtte, catal. 1851, p. 11. .....Commerce: yes, frequent. Collections: auhor, Gap-Charance, L'Haÿ, Mottisfont, Sangerhausen.
Contemporary bibliography often presents this rose as a cultivar of Van Sian, in Holland (from which the synonym 'Rose de Van Sian') or of Laffay, in France. The research of F. Mertens, director of Rosa Belgica, has come to the conclusion that there was never a Dutch rosarian named Van Sian. According to F. Mertens, the error came from the fact that this rose is one of the so-called "blues": with the colour blue in Dutsch often designated by the word "cyaan". Furthermore, this rose does not appear in the catalogue of Laffay.
In fact, the variety 'Cardinal de Richelieu' is a cultivar of Louis Parmentier (1782-1847), the grand rosarian of Enghien (near Brussels). One finds the confirmation in the catalogue of Van Houtte (Ghent) of 1851 which attributes it namely to him (no 0275)......
This variety is not to be confused with the Hybrid China, 'Richelieu', obtained by Verdier in 1845, nor with the Hybrid Perpetual, 'Cardinal de Richelieu', obtained by Trouillard, in 1857, both extinct.