Article (magazine)  (1 Jun 2015)  Page(s) 285.  
 
Some diploid species (R. farreri Cox and R. koreana Kom.) that were previously included in R. sect. Pimpinellifoliae but are resolved in the Cinnamomeae clade are morphologically distinct from other members of the section by having bracts and sometimes pink or red flowers. These distinct species seem to be genetically close to R. sect. Cinnamomeae as suggested by the GAPDH analyses and should probably be transferred to R. sect. Cinnamomeae, as noted in the taxonomic revision by Roberts (1977).

Book  (May 2003)  Includes photo(s).
 
 Rosa persetosa Rolfe, Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew. 1913: 263. 1913.
Rosa elegantula Rolfe.

Shrubs ca. 1.5 m tall. Branches numerous; branchlets waxy farinose; prickles sparse, straight or slightly curved, flat, densely bristly, densely bristly, or sparsely prickly; prickles straight or slightly curved, flat, sometimes turgid at base. Leaves including petiole 5–10 cm; stipules mostly adnate to petiole, free parts narrowly oblong, margin entire, apex rounded-obtuse; rachis and petiole sparsely puberulous, glandular-pubescent, shortly prickly; leaflets 7–9, rarely 11, elliptic or ovate-elliptic, 1.2–3 × 0.6–1.7 cm, glabrous or abaxially sparsely pubescent, with prominent midvein and lateral veins, base subrounded or broadly cuneate, margin simply serrate or inconspicuously doubly serrate, apex rounded-obtuse or acute. Flowers several in corymb, rarely solitary, 2.5–3 cm in diam.; pedicel 1.2–3 cm, glabrous; bracts 3–5, ovate, margin entire or glandular serrate, apex caudate. Hypanthium ovoid, glabrous. Sepals 5, ovate-lanceolate, abaxially subglabrous, glandular or not, adaxially densely puberulous, margin entire, apex caudate. Petals 5, red, broadly obovate, base broadly cuneate, apex rounded-obtuse. Styles free, shorter than stamens, puberulous. Hip bright-red, ovoid, 1–1.5 cm, glabrous, with persistent sepals. Fl. May–Jun, fr. Jul–Oct.
Scrub; 1300--2800 m. Sichuan.
One of us (Robertson) has seen no specimens of this species.

Book  (2001)  Page(s) 443.  
 
Plant Introductions in the period 1900-2000
1914 Rosa elegantula 'Persetosa' (syn. R. elegantula f. persetosa, R. farreri f. persetosa) N.W. China.

Book  (2001)  Page(s) 415.  
 
...found in the south of the province [of Kansu], was a species rose which blooms in June and has pale pink or white flowers which develop into luscious coral hips; its pretty fern-like leaves turn purple and crimson in the autumn. The particular variety usually offered was selected from a batch of Farrer's seedlings sent to his friend and fellow plantsman E. A. Bowles (1865-1954), and was Rosa persetosa var. farreri (now. R. elegantula). It is sometimes remembered as the Threepenny-bit Rose because of the size and shape pf the flower - although the eight-sided bronze threepenny bit is hardly remembered by anyone nowadays.

Book  (1996)  Page(s) 84.  
 
Threepenny Bit Rose (R. elegantula persetosa, R. farreri persetosa) Wild Shrub Rose... single flat lilac-blush flowers... The best rose for pressed flower work. From seed collected by Farrer in NW China 1915.

Book  (1993)  Page(s) 76.  Includes photo(s).
 
[Listed under "Wild Roses and Their Cultivars"] ('Threepenny-Bit Rose', Rosa elegantula, Rosa farreri 'Persetosa') Description. Farrer (Gansu, north-west China) 1915. This form was selected by Bowles in Britain. Summer flowering. Height/width: 7 x 7 ft.

Website/Catalog  (1985)  Page(s) 40.  
 
Rosa farreri persetosa.....the lilac pink flowers.

Website/Catalog  (1982)  Page(s) 32.  
 

Rosa farreri persetosa  (Threepenny Bit Rose). A charming but rather sprawly scrub with fine fern-like leaves which turn purple and Crimson in the autumn. The heps, produced in profusion are of a bright orange-red colour and these two features are perhaps more important than the coral pink flowers. 1918. F. G. W.  Shade tolerant. (S) 5 x 5’.

Book  (1981)  Page(s) 89.  
 
R. elegantula Rolfe R. farreri Stapf ex Stearn
A deciduous shrub a few feet high, the young sucker shoots copiously armed with short, slender prickles; branchlets sparingly armed...Leaves 2 to 4 inches long...seven to eleven leaflets...Flowers soliary or a few together, 1 to 1½ in. wide, rich rose...sometimes pale pink or white...Fruits brigth red, top shaped...the sepals persistent.
Native of north-western and west-central China; described from plants raised by Veitch from seeds collected by Wilson....allied to R. sertata...
The stock of R. elegantula was sold at the winding-up sale of Messrs J. Veitch in 1913, but this species does not seem to have been much cultivated outside Kew. Indeed, its very existence was overlooked when the plants from Farrer's re-introduction were being considered, for there is no doubt that R. farreri and R. elegantula are the same species. Even the following selection [R. elegantula 'Persetosa'] does not differ from the type in any significant botanical character....

Book  (1981)  Page(s) 89.  
 
'Persetosa' Farrer's Threepenny-Bit Rose - A bush up to 6 ft...Young shoots with the same armature as typical R. elegantula;...Flowers opeing soft warm pink...Fruits about ⅜ in. long...coral red...A very charming rose, beautiful when the flowers are in bud, when they are fully open and agin in autumn when the bush is hung with the brilliantly coloured fruits...selected by E. A. Bowles from plants raised from seed under Farrer's number 774, collected in Kansu in 1915. 'Persetosa' is quite hardy...easily increased by cuttings.