(2005)  Includes photo(s).
 
Martyn Rix traces the history of botanists' documentation of this rose, starting with E.H. Wilson in Plantae Wilsonianae in 1914 through Flora of China. He discusses R. lucidissima Léveillé, which is included as a distinct species in Flora of China. Rix posits that R. lucidissima Léveillé is a form of R. chinensis f. spontanea in which all leaves have only three leaflets. Rix also chooses to assign the name R. chinensis f. spontanea rather than var. spontanea.
Propagation is best done by cuttings as seed often takes 3 years to germinate.
NW China; Sichuan, Gansu, Hubei, Guizhou.