Forty-four taxa of three sections (Cinnamomeae (=Rosa) 26, Chinenses 8 and Gallicanae 10) and eight modern garden roses in the genus Rosa were surveyed for their floral anthocyanins. Eleven anthocyanins: 3-glucosides and 3,5-diglucosides of cyanidin (Cy), pelargonidin (Pg) and peonidin (Pn), 3-rutinosides and 3-rho-coumaroylglucoside-5-glucosides of Cy and Pn, and Cy 3-sophoroside, were isolated from flowers of these taxa and identified by chemical and spectroscopic techniques. Four anthocyanins: Cy 3-rutinoside, Pn 3-rutinoside, Pn 3-rho-coumaroylglucoside-5-glucoside and Cy 3-sophoroside were found for the first time in Rosa flowers.Investigated sections of wild roses showed characteristic distribution of anthocyanins. Cy 3,5-diglucoside was the dominant anthocyanin detected in all three sections, but accumulation of Pn 3,5-diglucoside distinguished sections Cinnamomeae from other sections, and the occurrence of Cy 3-glucoside separates section Chinenses from others.Cy 3-sophoroside was detected in large amount in some taxa of section Cinnamomeae: e.g., R. moyesii and its related cultivars, and R. rugosa cv. Salmon Pink. The acylated Cy glycoside was found in all sections and also in some modern garden roses, while the acylated Pn glycoside was detected in the section Cinnamomeae, but not in sections Chinenses and Gallicanae. According to anthocyanin distribution patterns, eight groups were classified chemotaxonomically in genus Rosa.