Rosa


ROSA ALBA.--This is a supposed garden hybrid between R. canina and R.

gallica (1597). It has very glaucous foliage, and large flowers, which

vary according to the variety from pure white to rose.



R. REPENS (_syn R. arvensis_).--Field Rose. Europe (Britain). This

species bears white flowers that are produced in threes or fours, rarely

solitary. The whole plant is usually of weak and straggling growth, with

shining leaves.



R. BRACTEATA (Macartney Rose), R. PALUSTRIS (Marsh Rose), and R.

MICROPHYLLA (small-leaved Rose), belong to that section supplied with

floral leaves or bracts, and shaggy fruit. They are of compact growth,

with neat, shining leaves, the flowers of the first-mentioned being rose

or carmine, and those of the other two pure white.



R. CANINA.--Dog Rose. Our native Roses have now been reduced to five

species, of which the present is one of the number. It is a straggling

shrub, 6 feet or 8 feet high, and armed with curved spines. Flowers

sweet-scented, pink or white, and solitary, or in twos or threes at the

branch tips.



R. CENTIFOLIA.--Hundred-leaved, or Cabbage Rose. Orient, 1596. A

beautiful, sweetly-scented species, growing to 6 feet in height, and

having leaves that are composed of from three to five broadly ovate,

toothed leaflets. The flowers are solitary, or two or three together,

drooping, and of a rosy hue, but differing in tint to a considerable

extent. This species has varied very much, principally through the

influences of culture and crossing, the three principal and marked

variations being size, colour, and clothing of the calyx tube. There are

the common Provence Roses, the miniature Provence or Pompon Roses, and

the Moss Rose--all of which are merely races of R. centifolia.



R. DAMASCENA.--Damask Rose. Orient, 1573. A bushy shrub varying from 2

feet to 8 feet in height according to cultural treatment and age. The

flowers are white or red, large, borne in corymbose clusters, and

produced in great profusion during June and July. The varieties that

have arisen under cultivation by seminal variation, hybridisation, or

otherwise are exceedingly numerous. Those now grown are mostly double,

and a large proportion of them are light in colour. They include the

quatre saisons and the true York and Lancaster. The flowers are highly

fragrant, and, like those of R. centifolia and other species, are used

indiscriminately for the purpose of making rose water. The species is

distinguished from R. centifolia by its larger prickles, elongated

fruit, and long, reflexed sepals.



R. FEROX.--North Asia. This species bears flowers in clusters of two and

three together, terminating the branches. The petals are white with a

yellow base. The branches are erect, and thickly crowded with prickles

of unequal size.



R. GALLICA.--The French, or Gallic Rose. Europe and Western Asia. This

Rose forms a bushy shrub 2 feet to 3 feet high, and has been so long

grown in British gardens that the date of its introduction has been lost

in obscurity. It is doubtless the red Rose of ancient writers, but at

present the flowers may be red, crimson, or white, and there are

varieties of all intermediate shades. Several variegated or striped

Roses belong here, including Gloria Mundi, a popular favourite often but

erroneously grown under the name of York and Lancaster. They all flower

in June and July, and, together with other kinds that flower about the

same time, are generally known as summer or old-fashioned garden Roses.



R. HEMISPHAERICA (_syn R. sulphurea_).--Orient, 1629. A bushy plant

growing from 4 feet to 6 feet high, and bearing large double yellow

flowers.



R. INDICA.--Common China, or Monthly Rose. Introduced from China, near

Canton, in 1789, but the native country is not known with certainty. The

flowers of the plant when first introduced were red and generally

semi-double, but the varieties now vary through all shades of blush,

rose, and crimson, and the plant varies exceedingly in height, in its

different forms 1 foot to 20 feet in height. The Monthly Roses form

bushes generally about 2 feet high or a little over. The Noisette and

Tea Roses, with several other more or less distinct types, belong here,

but as most of them are well known and otherwise well cared for, it is

unnecessary to dwell upon them in detail beyond the two varieties here

given, and which should not be overlooked.



R. INDICA MINIMA (_syn R. semperflorens minima, R. Lawrenceana_, and _R.

minima_).--Fairy, or Miniature Rose. China, 1810. A beautiful little

Rose that rarely exceeds a height of 4 inches or 5 inches. The flowers

are about the size of a half-crown, and somewhat after the York and

Lancaster as regards colouring, though not, perhaps, so distinctly

marked, and are produced in abundance. For the rock garden it is one of

the most desirable, and being perfectly hardy still further adds to its

value.



R. INDICA SEMPERFLORENS (_syns R. bengalensis_ and _R.

diversifolia_).--The Ever-flowering China Rose. China, 1789. A somewhat

spreading bush, with slender branches, armed with curved prickles.

Leaves composed of three or five leaflets, and tinted with purple.

Flowers almost scentless, solitary, semi-double, and of a bright and

showy crimson.



R. LUTEA (_syn R. Eglanteria_).--The Austrian Brier, or Yellow

Eglantine. South Europe, 1596. This belongs to the Sweet Brier section,

and is a bush of from 3 feet to 6 feet high, with shining dark-green

leaves, and large, cup-shaped flowers that are yellow or sometimes

tinged with reddish-brown within. The Scarlet Austrian Brier (R. lutea

punicea) is a handsome variety, with the upper surface of the petals

scarlet and the under surface yellow.



R. RUBIGINOSA (_syn R. Eglanteria_).--Eglantine, or Sweet Brier. This

species has pink flowers and clammy leaves, which are glandular on the

under surface, and give out a fragrant smell by which it may be

recognised.



R. RUGOSA (_syn R. ferox of Bot. Reg._), a Japanese species, and its

variety R. rugosa alba, are beautiful shrubs that have proved themselves

perfectly hardy and well suited for extensive culture in this country.

They are of stiff, shrubby habit, about 4 feet high, and with branches

thickly clothed with spines becoming brown with age. Leaflets oval in

shape, deep green, with the upper surface rough to the touch, the under

sides densely tomentose. Flowers single, fully 3 inches in diameter, the

petals of good substance, and white or rose-coloured. The fruit is

large, larger than that of perhaps any other rose, and of a bright red

when fully ripe. In so far as beauty of fruit is concerned, this Rose

has certainly no rival, and whether for the rockwork or open border it

must be classed amongst the most useful and beautiful of hardy shrubs.

R. rugosa is a capital hedge plant, and being a true species it is

readily propagated from seed. R. rugosa Kamtschatika is a deep-red

flowered form with deciduous spines.



R. SEMPERVIRENS.--Evergreen Rose. South Europe and India, 1529. A

climbing species, with long, slender branches, armed with hooked

prickles. Leaves evergreen, shining, and composed of from five to seven

leaflets. The clustered flowers are white and sweet-scented.



R. SPINOSISSIMA (_syn R. pimpinellifolia_).--Burnet, or Scotch Rose. A

small bush about 2 feet high, of neat growth, with small leaves, and

pink or white flowers that are solitary at the branch ends.



R. VILLOSA.--Downy Rose. Europe (Britain). This species is of erect

bushy growth, with the leaflets softly downy on both sides. Flowers

white or pale pink, succeeded by globular fruits, that are more or less

covered with fine hair or prickles.



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