the rose is a shrub or dwarf tree, with mostly deciduous foliage, and large, beautiful, and fragrant flowers. its branches are slender, almost always armed with thorns, thinly furnished with leaves, which are alternate upon the stem. its leaves are pinnate, and vary in color and character, from the rich, dark green, and somewhat rough leaf of la reine, to the glossy smoothness and rich purple edge of chromatella. the blossoms are variously arranged at the extremity of the newly formed branches. the calyx is single and tubular, swelling at its lower part, contracted at its opening, and divided at the edge into five lance-pointed divisions, which are whole or pinnatifid. the corolla is inserted at the mouth of the tube of the calyx, and is composed of five heart-shaped petals, which constitute the rose in its single or natural state. the double blossoms are formed by the change of the stamens and pistils into petals or flower leaves, shorter than those of the corolla proper. the fruit or seed vessel, or hip, is formed by the tube of the calyx, which becomes plump and juicy, globular or oviform, having but one cell, and containing numerous small, one-seeded, dry[pg 8] fruits, which usually pass for seeds; these are oval or globular, and surrounded with a soft down. the wood is very hard and compact, and of fine grain; and if it could be procured of sufficient size, would serve as a substitute for box in many kinds of manufacture. the longevity of the rose is, perhaps, greater than that of any other shrub. we recollect seeing a rose-tree near an old castle in stoke newington, england, the stem of which was of immense size, and indicated great age. “there is a rose-bush flourishing at the residence of a. murray mcilvaine, near bristol, (penn.,) known to be more than a hundred years old. in the year 1742, there was a kitchen built, which encroached on the corner of the garden, and the masons laid the corner-stone with great care, saying ‘it was a pity to destroy so pretty a bush.’ since then, it has never failed to produce a profusion of roses, shedding around the most delicious of all perfumes. sometimes it has climbed for years over the second-story windows, and then declined by degrees to the ordinary height. the fifth generation is now regaled with its sweets.”
the number of species known to the ancients was small, compared with the number now recognized by botanists. pliny, with whom we find the most detail on this point, says that the most esteemed were those of pr?neste and p?stum, which were, perhaps, identical; those of campania and malta, of a bright red color, and having but twelve petals; the white roses of heraclea, in greece, and those of alabande, which seem to be identical with r. centifolia. according to the roman naturalist and to theophrastus, they grew naturally on mount panga, and produced there very small flowers; yet the inhabitants of philippi went there to obtain them, and the bushes on being transplanted, produced much improved and beautiful roses. pliny speaks also of some other species, one whose flowers were single, another which he terms spinola, and[pg 9] also that of carthage, which bloomed in winter. unfortunately, all that we find in his works on this subject is, generally, very obscure, and it is difficult to compare many he has described with those known at the present day.
although there are no double wild roses known at the present day, either in europe or in this country, yet, as other flowers have been found double in a wild state, it is not impossible that some of the ancient varieties bore double flowers in their native condition in the fields. such may have been the centifolias, mentioned by pliny and theophrastus, as growing upon mount panga, and those which, at a still earlier period, according to herodotus, grew wild in macedonia, near the ancient gardens of midas.
the poverty in description which we have observed in ancient writings, and their comparatively small number of species, extends also to a much later day. in a little treatise published in france in 1536, and entitled de re hortensis libellus, there are but four species mentioned, and scarcely anything concerning their culture. an italian work published in 1563 mentions only eight species. in the florilegium of sweet, a folio volume printed at frankfort in 1612, are ten very coarse representations of roses, but with no indication of their names.
in the paradisus terrestris of parkinson, a folio volume printed at london in 1629, some twenty-four kinds are mentioned. some of them are represented by figures in wood, which are very coarse, and scarcely allow recognition of their species. in the jardinier hollandois, printed at amsterdam in 1669, are found but fourteen species of roses, very vaguely described, with scarcely anything on culture.
the first work which treated of roses with any degree of method is that of la quintyne, published at paris in 1690, and yet its details of the different species and varieties do not occupy more than a page and a half, while[pg 10] twenty-one pages are given to the culture of tulips, and fifty to pinks. though he describes two hundred and twenty-five varieties of pinks, and four hundred and thirteen tulips, he mentions only fourteen species and varieties of roses. for a century subsequent to the publication of la quintyne’s work, the rose is very little mentioned, either in english or french works, and there is nothing to indicate the existence at that time of many species, two or three only being required for medicine and perfumery. some of the english collections, however, numbered during that century some twenty-two distinct species, and a number of varieties. in 1762, linn?us was acquainted with only fourteen species. in 1799, wildenow, in his species plantarum, mentioned thirty-nine; and persoon, a little later, reached forty-five species; de candolle, in his prodromus, published in 1825, increased the number to one hundred and forty-six; and don, in 1832, makes two hundred and five species. if to these are added those which have been within fifteen years discovered in the himalaya mountains, and in other parts of the globe, the number will be greatly increased.
many of those enumerated by don should not, in truth, be considered distinct species, and quite a number are nothing more than varieties. in fact, roses are so liable to pass into each other, that botanists are now of the opinion that limits between many of those called species do not exist; a fact which was strongly suspected by linn?us, when he said, “species limitibus difficillime circumscribuntur, et forte natura non eos posuit.”
there is much confusion in the genus rosa, and in the best arrangement there may be many, which, on close examination, would scarcely deserve the name of species. the best scientific work on the rose is the “monographia rosarum,” by dr. lindley. this author, and loudon, we shall follow entirely in our botanical classification. the[pg 11] latter enumerates several other works on the rose, which are not within our reach.
the rose is found in almost every part of the northern hemisphere, between the 19th and 70th degrees of latitude.
captain fremont, (now general fremont) in his description of the prairies some five hundred miles west of st. louis, says, “everywhere the rose is met with, and reminds us of cultivated gardens and civilization. it is scattered over the prairies in small bouquets, and, when glittering in the dews and waving in the pleasant breeze of the early morning, is the most beautiful of the prairie flowers.”
it is found from the mountains of mexico to hudson’s bay, from the coast of barbary to sweden, in lapland and siberia, from spain to the indies, china, and kamschatka. “in asia, half the species have been found; of the thirty-nine which it produces, eighteen are natives of the russian dominions and the countries adjacent. most of these are very similar to the european portion of the genus, and five are common to both europe and asia. of the remainder, one, which is, perhaps, a distinct genus, has been discovered in persia, fifteen in china, and two of the latter, with four others, in the north of india.”
we shall not here describe all the species mentioned by lindley and loudon; but only those which are the parents of our garden sorts. a large part of the species described by these authors cannot be found in any collection in this country; and, in fact, very few possess any interest except to the botanist. the descriptions here given are mainly abbreviated from those of loudon.
bracteat?.—bracted roses.
this section is readily distinguished by the woolliness of branches and fruit. leaves dense, usually shining;[pg 12] prickles placed under the stipules in pairs. sepals simple, or nearly so.
r. bracteata, wendl.—the large-bracted rose.—macartney rose. evergreen. branches upright. prickles stout, recurved, in many instances in pairs. leaflets 5-9, obovate, subserrate, coriaceous, glossy, glabrous. stipules scarcely attached to the petiole, bristle-shaped, but fringed. peduncles and calyxes tomentose. flowers showy, pure white, solitary, nearly sessile. fruit spherical, orange red. native of china; growing to the height of five feet or six feet, and flowering from june to october.
a very ornamental shrub, evergreen, with large white flowers, and numerous bright yellow stamens and styles. it flowers abundantly, but is rather tender in england. it succeeds best when trained against a wall.
r. microphylla, roxb.—the small-leafleted rose.—hoi-tong-hong, chinese. stem almost without prickles. leaflets glossy, sharply serrated, veiny beneath, with densely netted, anastomosing veins. stipules very narrow, unequal. calyx densely invested with prickles. sepals short, broadly ovate, bristly, ending in a point. prickles having at the base two longitudinal furrows. flowers very large, double, and of a delicate blush color. native of china; growing to the height of two feet or three feet, and flowering from august to october.
pimpinellifoli?. lindl.
plants bearing crowded, nearly equal, prickles, or unarmed. bractless, rarely bracteate. leaflets ovate or oblong. sepals connivent, permanent. disk almost wanting.
this section is essentially different from the last in habit, but in artificial characters they approach very nearly. it, however, may be distinguished by the great number of leaflets, which vary from seven to thirteen, and even to fifteen, instead of from five to seven. the flowers[pg 13] are also without bracts, except in some species not mentioned here. these, having connivent permanent sepals, cannot be confounded with the preceding division; nor, on account of their disk, with the following. there is no instance of stipular prickles in the present tribe. the sepals are entire, or nearly so.
r. sulphurea, ait.—the sulphur-colored rose.—the double yellow rose. synonyms. r. hemispherica, herm. r. glaucophylla, ehrh. rosa lutea flore pleno, rai. hist. r. lutea, brot. stipules linear, divaricate, dilated at the apex. leaflets glaucous, flattish. tube hemispherical. stem prickles unequal, scattered. flowers large, of a fine transparent yellow, always double. native of the levant; growing to the height of from four feet to ten feet, and flowering in july.
this sort does not flower freely, except in open, airy situations and trained against a wall, exposed to the north or east, rather than to the south. its flower buds are apt to burst on one side before they expand, and, consequently, to become deformed; to prevent this, the blossom buds should be thinned, and care taken that they have abundance of light and air. watering it freely in the flowering season is also found advantageous, and the shoots in general ought not to be shortened. this beautiful species is said to flower freely, if grafted on the musk cluster at eight feet or ten feet from the ground; or it will do well on the china rose. it is grown in great abundance in italy, where its flowers produce a magnificent effect, from their large size, doubleness, and brilliant yellow color. it is one of the oldest inhabitants of our gardens, though the exact year of its introduction is unknown. “ludovico berthema tells us, in 1503, that he saw great quantities of yellow roses at calicut, whence it appears probable that both the single and double-flowered varieties were brought into europe by the turks; as parkinson tells us, in a work which he dedicated to henrietta, the queen of our unfortunate charles i., that the[pg 14] double yellow rose ‘was first procured to be brought to england by master nicholas lete, a worthy merchant of london, and a great lover of flowers, from constantinople, which (as we hear) was first brought thither from syria, but perished quickly, both with him, and with all others to whom he imparted it; yet afterward it was sent to master john de frangueville, a merchant of london, and a great lover of all rose plants, as well as flowers, from which is sprung the greatest store that is now flourishing in this kingdom.’”
r. spinosissima, l.—the most spiny, or scotch rose.—prickles unequal. leaflets flat, glabrous, simply serrated. a dwarf, compact bush, with creeping suckers. flowers small, solitary, white or blush-colored. fruit ovate, or nearly round, black or dark purple. native of europe; plentiful in britain. shrub, one foot to two feet high; flowering in may and june.
varieties. a great many varieties of this rose have been raised, with flowers double, semi-double, white, purple, red, and even yellow. the first double variety was found in a wild state, in the neighborhood of perth.
centifoli?.—hundred-leaved roses.
shrubs, all bearing bristles and prickles. peduncles bracteate. leaflets oblong or ovate, wrinkled. disk thickened, closing the throat. sepals compound. this division comprises the portion of the genus rosa which has most particularly interested the lover of flowers. it is probable that the earliest roses of which there are any records of being cultivated, belonged to this section; but to which particular species those of cyrene or mount panga are to be referred, it is now too late to inquire. the attar of roses, which is an important article of commerce, is either obtained from roses belonging to this division indiscriminately, as in the manufactory at florence, conducted by a convent of friars; or from some particular[pg 15] kind, as in india. it appears, from specimens brought from chizapore by colonel hardwicke, that r. damascena is there exclusively used for obtaining the essential oil. the persians also make use of a sort which k?mpfer calls r. shirazensis, (from its growing about shiraz), in preference to others; this may be either r. damascena, r. gallica, or r. centifolia, or, perhaps, r. moschata. the species contained in the present section are all setigerous, by which they are distinguished from the following divisions; their thickened disk and divided sepals separate them from the preceding. to the section of rubiginos? the glanduliferous sorts approach; but the difference of their glands, the size of their flowers, and their dissimilar habit, prevent their being confounded.
r. damascena.—the damascus, or damask rose.—rose à quatre saisons. synonyms. r. belgica, mill. r. calendarum, munch. r. bifera, poir. prickles unequal, the large ones falcate. sepals reflexed. fruit elongated. native of syria. flowers large, white or red, single or double. the present species may be distinguished from r. centifolia by the greater size of the prickles, the greenness of the bark, the elongated fruit, and the long, reflexed sepals. the petals of this species, and all the varieties of r. centifolia, as well as those of other species, are employed indiscriminately for the purpose of making rose-water. a shrub, growing from two feet to eight feet high, and flowering in june and july.
this species is extremely beautiful, from the size and brilliant color of its flowers. it is asserted by some writers to have been brought from damascus in syria at the time of the crusades, but there is every probability that it came from italy, since it is the same as the bifera, or the twice-bearing rose of the ancient roman gardeners, and is the original type of our remontant roses. the roman gardeners could have produced a certain autumnal bloom only by a sort of retarding process; for, although the damask rose will, under peculiar circumstances, bloom[pg 16] in autumn of its own accord, yet it cannot always be relied upon to do so. during the early period of the french monarchy, when none of the remontant roses were known, and this species was common, it was considered quite a phenomenon to see them appear naturally in winter. gregory, of tours, speaking of the year 584, says, “this year many prodigies appeared, and many calamities afflicted the people, for roses were seen blooming in january, and a circle was formed around the sun.” and of the year 589 he says, “this year trees blossomed in autumn, and bore fruit the second time, and roses appeared in the ninth month.”
r. centifolia, lin.—the hundred-petaled, provence, or cabbage rose.—synonyms. r. provincialis, mill. r. polyanthos, rossig. r. caryophyllea, poir. r. unguiculata, desf. r. varians, pohl. prickles unequal, the larger ones falcate. leaflets ciliated with glands. flowers drooping. calyxes clammy. fruit oblong. native of eastern caucasus, in groves. flowers white or red; single, but most commonly double.
this species is distinguished from r. damascena by the sepals not being reflexed, and the flowers having their petals curved inwards, so as, in the double state, to give the flower the appearance of the heart of a cabbage, whence the name of the cabbage rose. its fruit is either oblong or roundish, but never elongated. from r. gallica it is distinguished by the flowers being drooping, and by the larger size of the prickles, with a more robust habit. a shrub, growing from three feet to six feet high, and flowering in june and july. when this rose becomes unthrifty from age, it is renewed by cutting off the stems close to the ground as soon as the flowers have fallen; shoots will then be produced, sufficiently vigorous to furnish a beautiful and abundant bloom the following spring.
varieties. above one hundred varieties have been assigned to this species, and classed in three divisions:
[pg 17]
var. provincialis includes the provence, or cabbage roses.
var. muscosa comprises the moss roses.
var. pomponia, the pompone roses. according to loudon, we have made this a variety of r. centifolia, although some authors assert it to have been found growing wild in 1735, by a gardener of dijon, in france, who discovered it while cutting wood on a mountain near that city. many varieties of it have been obtained, among which, the most singular is the little dwarf given in the new du hamel as a distinct species. it does not grow more than twelve or fifteen inches high, and frequently perishes before blossoming.
var. bipinnata, red, has bipinnate leaves.
r. gallica, l.—the french, or provence rose. red rose.—synonyms. r. centifolia, mill. r. sylvatica, gater. r. rubra, lam. r. holosericea, rossig. r. belgica, brot. r. blanda, brot. prickles unequal. stipules narrow, divaricate at the tip. leaflets, 5-7, coriaceous, rigid, ovate or lanceolate, deflexed. flower bud ovate-globose; sepals spreading during the time of the flowering. fruit, subglobose, very coriaceous. calyx and peduncle more or less hispid with glanded hairs, somewhat viscose.
a species allied to r. centifolia, l., but with round fruit, and very coriaceous leaflets, with more numerous nerves, that are a little prominent, and are anastomosing. native of middle europe and caucasus, in hedges. the flowers vary from red to crimson, and from single to double; and there is one variety with the flowers double white. the petals of some of the varieties of this rose are used in medicine, which, though not so fragrant as those of the dutch hundred-leaved rose, also one of the varieties of this species, are preferred for their beautiful color and their pleasant astringency. the petals of r. gallica are those which are principally used for making conserve of roses, and, when dried, for gargles: their odor[pg 18] is increased by drying. they are also used in common with those of r. centifolia, for making rose-water and attar of roses. this rose was called by old writers the red rose, and is supposed to have been the one assumed as the badge of the house of lancaster. this, also, is one of the roses mentioned by pliny; from which, he says, all the others have been derived. it is often confounded with the damask rose.
varieties. the varieties of this species are very numerous. one of the most distinct is var. parvifolia. (r. parvifolia, ehr. r. burgundiaca, rossig. r. remensis, desf.) the burgundy rose.—a dwarf, compact shrub, with stiff, ovate acute, and sharply serrated small leaflets, and very double purple flowers, which are solitary, and have some resemblance, in form and general appearance, to the flower of a double-flowered asiatic ranunculus.
villos?.—hairy roses.
suckers erect. prickles straightish. leaflets ovate or oblong, with diverging serratures. sepals connivent, permanent. disk thickened, closing the throat. this division borders equally close upon those of canin? and rubiginos?. from both it is distinguished by its root-suckers being erect and stout. the most absolute marks of difference, however, between this and canin?, exist in the prickles of the present section being straight, and the serratures of the leaves diverging. if, as is sometimes the case, the prickles of this tribe are falcate, the serratures become more diverging. the permanent sepals are another character by which this tribe may be known from canin?. rubiginos? cannot be confounded with the present section, on account of the unequal hooked prickles and glandular leaves of the species. roughness of fruit and permanence of sepals are common to both.
[pg 19]
r. alba, lin.—the common white rose.—leaflets oblong, glaucous, rather naked above, simply serrated. prickles straightish or falcate, slender or strong, without bristles. sepals pinnate, reflexed. fruit unarmed. native of piedmont, cochin china, denmark, france, and saxony. flowers large, either white, or of the most delicate blush color, with a grateful fragrance. fruit oblong, scarlet, or blood-colored. a shrub, growing from four feet to ten feet in height, and flowering in june and july.
rubiginos?.—brier roses.
prickles unequal, sometimes bristle-formed, rarely wanting. leaflets ovate or oblong, glandular, with diverging serratures. sepals permanent. disk thickened. root-shoots arched. the numerous glands on the lower surface of the leaves will be sufficient to prevent anything else being referred to this section; and although r. tomentosa has sometimes glandular leaves, the inequality of the prickles of the species of rubiginos?, and their red fruit, will clearly distinguish them. this division includes all the eglantine, or sweet-brier roses.
r. rubiginosa, lin.—rusty-leaved rose, sweet-brier, or eglantine.—r. suavifolia, lightf. r. eglanteria, mill. r. agrestis, savi. r. rubiginosa parviflora, rau. prickles hooked, compressed, with smaller straighter ones interspersed. leaflets elliptical, doubly serrated, hairy, clothed beneath with rust-colored glands. sepals pinnate, and bristly, as well as the peduncles. fruit obovate, bristly toward the base. native throughout europe, and of caucasus. in britain, in bushy places, on a dry gravelly or chalky soil. leaves sweet-scented when bruised, and resembling the fragrance of the pippin apple. when dried in the shade, and prepared as a tea, they make a healthful and pleasant beverage.
this species is extensively used in europe for the formation of tea roses, and it is estimated that two hundred thousand are budded annually in the vicinity of[pg 20] paris alone. the species is very vigorous, but does not seem to answer well in our hot sun. the change from its native shaded thickets and hedges is too much for its tall, exposed stem, and, although the stock may not itself die, yet the variety budded upon it will frequently perish in two or three years. this is doubtless partly owing to a want of analogy between the stock and the variety given it for nourishment, but that the former is the prominent evil is evident by the fact that dwarfs of the same stock, where the stem is shaded by the foliage, flourish much better. the eglantine, in favored situations, is very long-lived. a french writer speaks of one in which he had counted one hundred and twenty concentric layers, thus making its age the same number of years. another writer speaks of an eglantine in lower saxony, whose trunk separated into two very strong branches, twenty-four feet high, and extending over a space of twenty feet. at the height of seven feet, one of the branches is nearly six inches, and the other four inches, in circumference. there is a tradition that it existed in the time of louis the pious, king of germany in the ninth century. this, however, must evidently be received with some allowance. flowers, pink. fruit, scarlet, obovate or elliptic. a shrub, growing from four feet to six feet in height, and flowering in june and july.
canin?.—dog roses.
prickles equal, hooked. leaflets ovate, glandless or glandular, with the serratures conniving. sepals deciduous. disk thickened, closing the throat. larger suckers arched.
r. canina, lin.—dog rose.—synonyms. r. glauca, lois. r. arvensis, schrank. r. glaucescens, mer. r. nitens, mer. r. teneriffensis, donn. r. senticosa, achar.[pg 21] prickles strong, hooked. leaflets simply serrated, pointed, quite smooth. sepals pinnate. fruit ovate, smooth, or rather bristly, like the aggregate flower stalks. native throughout europe, and the north of africa; plentiful in britain, in hedges, woods, and thickets. flowers rather large, pale red, seldom white. fruit, ovate, bright scarlet, of a peculiar and very grateful flavor, especially if made into a conserve with sugar. the pulp of the fruit, besides saccharine matter, contains citric acid, which gives it an acid taste. the pulp, before it is used, should be carefully cleared from the nuts or seeds. a shrub, growing to the height of six feet or ten feet, and flowering in june and july.
r. indica, l.—the india or china rose.—stem upright, whitish, or green, or purple. prickles stout, falcate, distant. leaflets 3 to 5, ovate-acuminate, coriaceous, shining, glabrous, serrulate, the surfaces of different colors. stipules very narrow, connate with the petiole, almost entire, or serrate. flowers solitary, or in panicles. stamens bent inward. peduncle sub-articulate, mostly thickened upward, and with the calyx smooth, or wrinkled and bristly. native of china, near canton. flowers red, usually semi-double. petioles setigerous and prickly. petals obcordate. a shrub, growing to the height of from 4 feet to 20 feet, and flowering throughout the year.
varieties.—there are numerous varieties of this beautiful rose in cultivation, some of which were regarded as distinct species by the earlier authors. the following are quite distinct, and may each be considered the type of a long list of subvarieties.
var. noisettiana.—the noisette rose.—stem firm, and, as well as the branches, prickly. stipules nearly entire. flowers panicled, very numerous, semi-double, pale red. styles exserted.
this well-known and very beautiful rose is almost invaluable in a shrubbery, from its free and vigorous growth, and the profusion of its flowers, which are continually being produced during the whole summer.
[pg 22]
var. odoratissima.—the tea-scented china rose.—r. odoratissima, swt.; r. indica fragrans, red.—has semi-double flowers, of a most delicious fragrance, strongly resembling the scent of the finest green tea. there are numerous subvarieties.
r. laurenciana is placed as a species by some authors, but it is probably only a variety of r. indica.
systyl?.
(from sun, together, and stulos, a style; in reference to the styles being connected.)
sect. char.—styles cohering together into an elongated column. stipules adnate. the habit of this section is nearly the same as that of the last. the leaves are frequently persistent.
r. sempervirens, lin.—evergreen rose.—syn. r. scandens, mill.; r. balearica, desf.; r. atrovirens, viv.; r. sempervirens globosa, red.—evergreen. shoots climbing. prickles pretty equal, falcate. leaves of 5 to 7 leaflets, that are green on both sides, coriaceous. flowers almost solitary, or in corymbs. sepals nearly entire, longish. styles cohering into an elongate pilose column. fruit ovate or ovate-globose, orange-colored. peduncles mostly hispid with glanded hairs. closely allied to r. arvensis, but differing in its being evergreen, in its leaves being coriaceous, and in its stipules being subfalcate, and more acute at the tip. native of france, portugal, italy, greece, and the balearic islands. a climbing shrub, flowering from june to august.
used for the same purposes as the ayrshire rose, from which it differs in retaining its leaves the greater part of the winter, and in its less vigorous shoots. this species is well adapted for rose carpets made by pegging down its long, flexile shoots. its glossy, rich foliage forms, in this way, a beautiful carpet of verdure enameled with flowers.
r. multiflora, thunb.—many-flowered rose.—syn. r. flava, donn.; r. florida, poir.; r. diffusa, roxb.—branches, peduncles, and calyxes tomentose. shoots very long. prickles slender, scattered. leaflets 5 to 7, ovate-lanceolate,[pg 23] soft, finely wrinkled. stipules pectinate. flowers in corymbs, and, in many instances, very numerous. buds ovate globose. sepals short. styles protruded, incompletely grown together into a long, hairy column. a climbing shrub, a native of japan and china; and producing a profusion of clustered heads of single, semi-double, or double, white, pale red, or red flowers in june and july.
this is one of the most ornamental of climbing roses; but, to succeed, even in the climate of london, it requires a wall. the flowers continue to expand one after another during nearly two months.
var. grevillei.—r. roxburghii, hort.; r. platyphylla, red.—the seven sisters rose.—a beautiful variety, with much larger and more double flowers than the species, of a purplish color. it is easily known from r. multiflora by the fringed edge of the stipules; while those of the common r. multiflora have much less fringe, and the leaves are smaller, with the leaflets much less rugose. the form of the blossoms and corymbs is pretty nearly the same in both.
a plant of this variety on the gable end of r. donald’s house, in the goldworth nursery, in england, in 1826, covered above 100 square feet, and had more than 100 corymbs of bloom. some of the corymbs had more than 50 buds in a cluster, and the whole averaged about 30 in each corymb, so that the amount of flower buds was about 3,000. the variety of color produced by the buds at first opening was not less astonishing than their number. white, light blush, deeper blush, light red, darker red, scarlet, and purple flowers, all appeared in the same corymb; and the production of these seven colors at once is said to be the reason why this plant is called the seven sisters rose. this tree produced a shoot the same year which grew 18 feet in length in two or three weeks. this variety, when in a deep, free soil, and an airy situation, is of very vigorous growth, and a free flowerer; but the shoots are of a bramble-like texture,[pg 24] and the plant, in consequence, is of but temporary duration. r. donald’s r. grevillei died in three or four years.
var. russelliana is a variety differing considerably, in flowers and foliage, from the species, but retaining the fringed footstalk; and is, hence, quite distinct from r. sempervirens russelliana.
var. boursaulti, boursault rose, is placed, in don’s miller, under this species; though it differs more from the preceding variety than many species do from each other. it is comparatively a hard-wooded, durable rose, and valuable for flowering early and freely. this is a very remarkable rose, from its petals having a reticulated appearance.
r. moschata, mill.—musk rose.—syn. r. glandulifera, roxb.—shoots ascending. prickles upon the stem slender, recurved. leaflets 5 to 7, lanceolate, acuminate, nearly glabrous, the two surfaces of different colors. stipules very narrow, acute. flowers, in many instances, very numerous, white, with the claws of the petals yellow, very fragrant. lateral peduncles jointed, and, as well as the calyx, pilose, and almost hispid. sepals almost pinnately cut, long. fruit red, ? ovate.
the branches of the musk rose are generally too weak to support, without props, its large bunches of flowers, which are produced in an umbel-like manner at their extremities. the musky odor is very perceptible, even at some distance from the plant, particularly in the evening,—
“when each inconstant breeze that blows steals essence from the musky rose.”
it is said to be a native of barbary; but this has been doubted. it is, however, found wild in tunis, and is cultivated there for the sake of an essential oil, which is obtained from the petals by distillation. it has also been found wild in spain. the first record of the musk rose having been cultivated in england is in hakluyt, in 1582, who states that the musk rose was brought to england from italy. it was in common cultivation in the time of[pg 25] gerard, and was formerly much valued for its musky fragrance, when that scent was the fashionable perfume. the persian attar of roses is said to be obtained from this species. the musk rose does best trained against a wall, on account of the length and weakness of its branches; and miller adds that it should always be pruned in spring, as in winter it will not bear the knife. it requires very little pruning, as the flowers are produced at the extremities of the shoots, which are often 10 feet or 12 feet in length. it flowers freely, and is well worthy of cultivation. this rose is thought by some to be the same as that of cyrene, which athen?us has mentioned as affording a delicious perfume, but of this there is no certain evidence. it seems to have been rare in europe in the time of gessner, the botanist, who, in a letter to dr. occon, dated zurich, 1565, says that it was growing in a garden at augsburg, and he was extremely anxious that the doctor should procure some of its shoots for him. rivers mentions that olivier, a french traveler, speaks of a rose tree at ispahan, called the “chinese rose tree,” fifteen feet high, formed by the union of several stems, each four or five inches in diameter. seeds of this tree were sent to paris and produced the common musk rose.
banksian?.—banksia roses.
(so called because all the species contained in this section agree in character with r. banksi?, a rose named in honor of lady banks.)
stipules nearly free, subulate, or very narrow, usually deciduous. leaflets usually ternate, shining. stems climbing. the species of this section are remarkable for their long, graceful, and often climbing, shoots, drooping flowers, and trifoliate, shining leaves. they are particularly distinguished by their deciduous, subulate, or very narrow stipules. their fruit is very variable.
r. banksi?, r. br.—lady banks’ or banksia rose.—without prickles, glabrous, smooth. leaflets 3 to 5,[pg 26] lanceolate, sparingly serrated, approximate. stipules bristle-like, scarcely attached to the petiole, rather glossy, deciduous. flowers in umbel-like corymbs, numerous, very double, sweet-scented, nodding. tube of the calyx a little dilated at the tip. fruit globose, black. a native of china. a climbing shrub, flowering in june and july.
description, etc.—this is an exceedingly beautiful and very remarkable kind of rose; the flowers being small, round, and very double, on long peduncles, and resembling in form the flowers of the double french cherry, or that of a small ranunculus, more than those of the generality of roses. the flowers of r. banksi? alba are remarkably fragrant, the scent strongly resembling that of violets.
thunberg speaks of the rosa rugosa as growing in china and japan, being extensively cultivated in the gardens of those countries, and producing flowers of a pale red or pure white. the original plant is of a deep purple color. siebold, in his treatise on the flowers of japan, says that this rose had been already cultivated in china about eleven hundred years, and that the ladies of the court, under the dynasty of long, prepared a very choice pot-pourri by mixing its petals with musk and camphor.
more than one hundred distinct species are mentioned by botanists, in addition to those we have enumerated, but none of very marked characters or much known.