The Gallic Rose, French Rose, or Rose of Provence is native to southern and Central Europe extending to Turkey and the Caucasus towards the East.

Cultivated already by the Greek and Romans it was commonly planted in medieval gardens and by the XIXth Century Rosa_gallica was the most important rose species in cultivation.

The County Flower of Lancashire, the semidouble cultivar ‘Officinalis’ is the “Red Rose of Lancaster” (Shakespeareás dramas refer) and in 2004, a cultivar named ‘Cardinal de Richelieu’ was genetically engineered to produce the first blue rose.