(2010)  Page(s) 29-32.  Includes photo(s).
 
[Rough translation from the original text in Norwegian]

'Nordens Rose' [Rose of the North] (Rosa x suionum Almq., "Svernas Ros", syn.: Rosa campanulata Borkh., non 'Minette' Vibert 1819?)
Oncde one gets to know it, it is easy to decide. It forms a lax, 1.5 m tall shrub with glossy grass-green foliage and branches. Few, but sharp prickles often sit in pairs at each joint. The petals are thin and smooth with pointed teeth forthest out, but not along the wedge-shaped opposite end, which is attached to the center of the blade with a short and thin stalk, giving it all a form which is easy to recognize, ven in old herbaria specimens.
Occasionally, an extra leaf flap may lurk between the small leaflets at the end blade. However, the most prominent feature of the rose is an extremely wide bud similar to that of 'Agatha' with a distinct "double chin". Glanded bristles are less stiff with 'Nordens Rose' and more evenly spread over sepals, bud and stalk than with 'Agatha'. The flower is filled with thin and broad petals that easily adhere together, making it difficult for the flower to expand in humid weather. When expanded, it is similar in colour as well as in fragrance to the damask rose Rosa x damascena 'Kazanlik'.
'Nordens Rose' is one of the most common roses to find remaining in abandoned gardens in the inner regions of eastern Norway, Telemark and Agder.The occurences here obviously hang together with the widespread distribution on the Swedish side of the border, where it is common to encounter it in old towns (Hylander & Nannfeldt 1945; Malmgren 1986; Gustavsson 2008), and through Finland and Estonia (Hämet-Ahti et al. 1992; Joy 2006)). In Østfold information was recorded on families of mariners which brought it with them (Ola Larsen, Østfold rose association, personal communication). While it is common in southeast Norwayall the way along the coast, it is absent from Lindesnes to Molde. The few findings we have are said according to our informants to be introductions from the east, with one exception: A nursery in Os near Bergen has had it on sale as "Besto" with material from Engjavik in Fusa. This might have come there with the Meidell family with ancestors in Estonia, who had traded there from the 1820s (Brekke 1993). In the north we have found it in the inner fjords of Fauske,  and Arne Lundstad in 1952 at the church cemetery in Rognan (Saltdal, belegg [?], NLH).
'Nordens Rose' seems little variabel in Norwegian material. However, the naming has been debated and been the subject of contention. The same rose occurs under different names in different parts of the world. The one in Finland called "Mustilanruusu" [Mustailanruusu] (Hämet-Ahti et al. 1992) and in Germany it is known as "Dornlöse Kreiselrose" [Dornenlose Kreiselrose] (Nissen 2005; Arnold & Arnold 2007) are probably the same rose that is sold as 'Minette' in the Nordic countries and referred to as Rosa x suionum by botanists, according to Hylander & Nannfeldt (1945). We are pretty convinced that the one trading as "Banshee" in North America must also be the same (Bell 1977; Joy 2006; Lura 2008). It has been suggested that 'Nordens Rose' arose from a cross of a damask rose from Europe with the Virgina rose (Rosa virginiana) from North America (Bell 1977; Nilsson 1981; Nannfeldt 1985). Such a meeting could have happened in many collections where roses from the New World were included from the 18th century onwards.
It has also been questioned whether this is really the rose which Vibert commercialized in 1819 (see Merker 1985a, b; Nannfeldt 1985). He listed 'Minette' under hybrids of his "26th Class, Cent feuilles" with the year 1819 set for the first flowering (Vibert 1820). The synonymy with Rosa x suionum is apparently based on a plant that was labeled 'Minette' in the Sangerhausen rosary (Merker 1985a, b). It is not known where this example came from and it has been more than once suggested that the labels in the collection may have been misplaced (Nannfeldt 1985; Lars-Åke Gustavsson, personal communication). Bell (1977) suggests that 'Banshee' fits with the description of 'Baron Louis' as given by Gore (1838), a rose listed under "Turnep Rose" originating in North America. The same is described in greater detail also by Desportes (1828), Boitard (1836) and Biedenfeld (1840) under roses originating in North America. They also describe 'Minette', but then under roses from Europe. Comparison of the descriptions in these early sources is difficult, since authentic material of the old varieties is missing , but if one should choose a place to look, 'Rose Courtenay' (syn.: 'Rosa Anglaise', Rosa campanulata Desp. non Ehrhart 1791) should be examined further. It is very similar to the description of 'Baron Louis', but clearly matches our rose better than the contemporary descriptions of 'Minette' (see especially Boitard 1836). The British-American context is particularly interesting, since it has been suggested that 'Banshee' originally came to North America from Scotlandas early as 1773 (Bell 1977). Such a journey can of course have happened more than once. For example, there is early information about a rose from Washington documented in the Uppsala Herbarium (UPS, see Nilsson 1981), and there exist reports that it has been taken to the United States as root cuttings by Swedish immigarnts from the Stockholm area (Lars-Åke Gustavsson, personal communication).

(2010)  Page(s) 85-89.  
 
[Bibliography mentioned for 'Nordens Rose':]
Arnold, H. & Arnold, V. 2007.- Alte Rosen in Meldorf.- Schleswig-Holsteinischen Landwirtschaftsmuseum, Meldorf - (www.museum-albersdorf.de/rosen)
Bell, L. 1977.- Banshee: The great impersonator - American Rose Annual, cited from Parden, P. 2007.- Old garden roses and beyond - December 2007 (url.: www.rdrop.com/~paul/main_dec.html).
Biedenfeld, F.F. von, 1847.- Das Buch der Rosen - 2. ed., Weimar 1847
Boitard, M. 1836.- Manuel complet de l'amateur de roses.- Paris 1836
Brekke, N.G. (red.) 1993.- Kulturhistorisk vegbok Hordaland - Hordaland fylkeskommune og Norf 4, Bergen 480 p.
Desportes, N. 1828.- Rosetum gallicum ou énumération méthodique des espèces et variétés du genre rosier indigènesen France ou cultivée dans les jardins,...  - Le Mans et Paris, 1828, 124 p.
Gore, M. 1838.- The rose Fancier's Manual.- Henry Colburn, London
Gustavsson, L.-Å. 2008.- Rosor för nordiska trädgårdar. - Vol. 1-3, Natur och Kultur, Stockholm.
Hämet-Ahti, L., Palmen, A., Alanko, P. & Tigerstedt, P.M.A. 1992.- Suomen puu- ja pensaskasvio - Dendrologian Seura - Dendroloska Sällskapet r.y., Helsinki, 373 p.
Hylander, N. & Nannfeldt, J. A. 1945 .- Rosa siuonum - Lustgården, Årsskrift för Föreningen för dendrology och parkvård (1944/1945):45-56, Stockholm.
Joy, p. 2006.- Finlands rosetradisjon.- Rosebladet 24 (2/2006): 3-8. (English version: Of Rose traditions and traditional roses in Finland). - The Finnish Rose Society (http://puutarha.net/ruususeura/c-englanti/Articles/Joy/rose-traditions-3.html).
Lura, S. 2008.- "Pickering now lists Minette as Banshee".- Heritage Rose Foundation, General Discussion & Message posting website (last update March 06, 2008).
Malmgren, U. 1986.-Släkter Rosa i Sverige - Svensk Bot. Tidskr. 80: 209-227.
Merker, H. 1985a.- Nordiska rosen (Rosa suionum) demaskerad. - Svensk Bot. Tidskr. 78(1984): 309-312.
Merker H. 1985b.- Genmäle om Rosa suionum.- Svensk Bot. Tidskr. 78[79]:237-239.
Nilsson, E. 1981.- Svearnas Ros - Svensk Bot. Tidskr. 75(1975): 225-230.
Nissen, G. 2005.- Alte Rosen - 11. ed. 2005, Verlag Boyens, Heide, 124 p.
Vibert, J.-P. 1820.- Observations sur la nomenclature et le classement des roses: suivis du catalogue de celles cultivées. - Huzard, Paris, 1820, 48 p.