Rosa spinosissima

The native range of Rosa spinosissima covers Central Europe and parts of Asia. In these areas occur three morphotypes. Plants distributed in northern Germany and the British Isles are very small. In the pannonical and mediterranean populations plants up to 2 m in height are found. Plants of Rosa spinosissima populations in Asia are also very tall. The question to answer is: Do these different populations present glacial refugias of a common ancestor and how are these populations genetically related to each other?

Eike Mayland-Quellhorst (doctoral thesis)