Floribunda (lat. for "many-flowering") is a modern group of garden roses that was developed by crossing hybrid teas with the wild rose Rosa multiflora or polyantha roses, which were derived from crosses between Rosa chinensis and R. multiflora. The idea was to create roses that bloomed with the polyantha profusion, but with hybrid tea floral beauty and colour range.
The first polyantha/hybrid tea cross, 'Gruss an Aachen', with characteristics midway between both parent classes, was created in 1909. The larger, more shapely flowers and hybrid-tea like growth habit separated these new roses from polyanthas and hybrid teas alike.
The name Floribunda was coined by Dr. J.N. Nicolas, a rose hybridizer for Jackson & Perkins in the US and is used since 1930 to describe crosses between hybrid teas and polyanthas.
Typical floribundas feature stiff shrubs, smaller and bushier than the average hybrid tea but less dense and sprawling than the average polyantha. The flowers are often smaller than hybrid teas but are carried in large sprays, giving a better floral effect in the garden. Floribundas are found in all hybrid tea colours and with the classic hybrid tea-shaped blossom, sometimes differing from hybrid teas only in their cluster-flowering habit. Today they are still used in large bedding schemes in public parks and similar spaces.