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.