ROSA GALLICA : THE FRENCH ROSE. ITS NATURAL DIVERSITY WITHIN AND BETWEEN WILD POPULATIONS IN THE SOUTH-EAST OF FRANCE.

Rosa gallica L. is a spontaneous wild species in France and is a progenitor species of cultivated roses. Natural populations of Rosa gallica still remain in certain areas but are endangered both by urbanisation and construction of communication routes and by land consolidation and disappearing of quickset hedges. One of the missions of the botanical conservatory of Gap (Hautes Alpes) is the conservation and preservation of Rosa gallica natural diversity. But little is known on the natural reproduction mode or even on the level of diversity of this species.

In this paper we analyse this diversity on both morphological and molecular levels on more than 100 accessions. Collection of wild Rosa gallica was carried out on spots preliminary identified by botanists. They were collected over 4 French departments in the Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur region. 50 morphological characters were observed and the variability of 49 RAPD's was checked on each sample.

The results indicate a large diversity both between and within populations. Consequences of this large variability will be discussed in terms of mode of reproduction and scattering of Rosa gallica. This will be useful for a sound conservation of Rosa gallica and for especially for choosing the best sampling method.