The collection trip was sponsored and financed by the Chinese government through its office of International Cooperation and Development. Many modern roses originate from only eight to ten wild species. China is the centre of diversity for roses. Some of these wild species may have new, novel genes for disease resistance and other horticultural traits. The introduction of these new genes into modern rose breeding programs would be highly beneficial.
Roses are among the world s most important ornamental crops.
These northerly locations hopefully will provide new sources of hardy plant material. All together, about 40 accessions were gathered from 20 rose species. The material collected only scratched the surface of the diverse genetic resources available in China. Further investigation and collection is warranted. Of particular interest is material in the mountainous region of Yunnan province in southern China, and in the northwest areas where cold hardiness could be obtained.