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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Rosa gallica''
| image = Wild Rosa gallica Romania.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = wild ''Rosa gallica'' in Romania
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Rosales]]
| familia = [[Rosaceae]]
| subfamilia = [[Rosoideae]]
| genus = ''[[Rosa]]''
| species = '''''R. gallica'''''
| binomial = ''Rosa gallica''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
}}

'''''Rosa gallica''''', ('''Gallic Rose''', '''French Rose''', or '''Rose of Provence''') is a species of [[rose]] native to southern and central [[Europe]] eastwards to [[Turkey]] and the [[Caucasus]].

It is a [[deciduous]] [[shrub]] forming large patches up to two metres tall, the stems with prickles and glandular bristles. The [[leaf|leaves]] are pinnate, with three to seven bluish-green leaflets. The [[flower]]s are clustered one to four together, single with five petals, fragrant, deep pink. The [[rose hip|hips]] are globose to ovoid, 10-13 mm diameter, orange to brownish.

==Cultivation==
The species is easily cultivated on well drained soil in full sun to semishade; it can survive temperatures down to −25 °C. It is one of the earliest cultivated species of roses, being cultivated by the Greek and Romans and it was commonly used in Mediaeval gardens. In the [[19th century]] it was the most important species of rose to be cultivated, and most modern European rose [[cultivar]]s have at least a small contribution from ''R. gallica'' in their ancestry.

Cultivars of the species ''R. gallica'' and hybrids close in appearance are best referred to a [[Cultivar Group]] as the Gallica Group roses. The ancestry is usually unknown and the influence of other species can not be ruled out.

The Gallica Group roses share the vegetative characters of the species, forming low suckering shrubs. The flowers can be single, but most commonly double or semidouble. The colours range from white (rare) to pink and deep purple. All Gallica Group roses are once flowering. They are easily cultivated.

The semidouble cultivar 'Officinalis', the "[[Red Rose of Lancaster]]", is the [[county flower]] of [[Lancashire]].

In [[2004]], a cultivar of the Gallica Group named 'Cardinal de Richelieu' was [[genetic engineering|genetically engineered]] to produce the first [[blue rose]].

== References ==
*[http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF=&GENUS_XREF=Rosa&SPECIES_XREF=gallica&TAXON_NAME_XREF=&RANK= Flora Europaea: ''Rosa gallica'']
*Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan.
*[http://www.physorg.com/news3581.html Article on the use of RNAi technology to produce a blue rose]

<gallery>
Image:RosaGallicaAlainBlanchard1UME.jpg|'Alain Blanchard' (Vibert 1839)
Image:RosaGallicaOrnamentDeLaNature1UME.jpg|'Ornament de la Nature' (Toutain 1826)
</gallery>

[[Category:Roses]]
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