(May 2016)  Page(s) 4-5.  
 
....the roots of the Damask recedes even deeper into history to the fourth century. In October of 331, Alexander the Great wrote in his diary that upon entering the city of Babylon, he was showered with rose petals. As far as we know, only an autumnal Damask and R. fedtschenkoana bloomed in the fall of the year in that part of the world. (R. moschata is indigenous to Africa and southeastern Europe.) To be “showered” with rose petals implies a profusion, and while Fedtschenkoana has but five petals to a flower, the Damask has considerably more. It or both may have been used to flutter down upon the conqueror. It may be also because of this connection in honor of Alexander the Great that the ‘Autumn Damask’ has also been called “The Alexander Rose.”
.... recently some doubt has been cast onto the results of the 2000 DNA testing announcement. Turkish-Swiss professor of Eastern Studies and a rosarian, Behcet Ciragan at the 2014 WFRS Conference challenged the thoroughness of this study. Where, he asks, would the crossing of R. moschata x R. gallica with R. fedtschenkoana have taken place, given that neither of the first two roses are of central Asia? R. webbiana and R. beggeriana, he asserts, are also common in the general region of Fedtschenkoana and Rosa fedtshenkoana 4 can repeat their bloom. Indeed, according to some botanists, R. webbiana is virtually the same species as the latter. Why were these not analyzed?
....Belgian rose botanist and breeder Ivan Louette postulates that R. abyssinica is far nearer in traits to R. damascena than is the tentative R. moschata. The same is true for R. phoenicia and for the double pink R. pissardii, also known as ‘Nastarana’ and the Persian Musk Rose. And while three Phoenicia roses were used in the Iwata study, none of the other similar types were.