It does have thorns, and because it's a low grower they are hard to see (but easy to feel).

The foliage is clean and smooth, but then PM isn't a problem in my garden.

In a Lovett catalog at the US Dept of Agriculture library, I found a picture and description that resemble Belmont Yellow slightly. (Lovett was not just the Father of the three Lovett sisters for whom Van Fleet named roses, Lovett was Van Fleet's neighbor) My copy of that part of the page is blurred, as no photocopying is allowed and only digital cameras without flash are allowed.

New growth this year is a red edge to the leaves, but the leaves themselves are not at all red, even at their smallest. The red edge (were it permanent) could almost be called picotee. The leaves don't keep the red edge very long, and the red becomes the green that's in the HMF photos.

Buds open with sepals bending back and exposing a refined light yellow that is more like clotted or heavy cream. Really a great shade of yellow that I wish more roses had. As the petals open, the cream becomes white with the faintest cream backstory.

The canes and stems have never been especially red, even as basal breaks.

I think BY grows best with a fairly constant source of water and moderate fertilizer. I don't see it getting tall, but being a front of the border rose of the most desirable character.