The origin of this famous rose is obscure. In a letter to the Revue Horticole M. Bertin, Sr., says he sowed some seeds of unknown Bourbon roses in 1832. Among plants from these he found one very vigorous one. He gave plants to many leading horticulturists, such as Servi, and Bertin, the latter of whom called it Manetti.

To us this does not seem quite clear, for there is nothing whatever of the Bourbon family of roses in the Manetti. It is so near in all its characters to the American Rosa lucida, in all except its extremely strong growth, that one may suspect more relationship to it than to the Bourbon race. No explanation is given of the name, which appears to be Italian. M. Carriere regards it as of Italian origin, and proposes to rank it as a species. He calls it Rosa Bertini.