loS ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



there occurs on page 43 the following : " No. 69 from 

 near Turiff, appears to be very different. It puts me very 

 much in mind of ft. pinipinellifolia x rubiginosa ; but the 

 specimens are not sufficient to decide the matter, and there- 

 fore I reserve my opinion till I can see better specimens, 

 or, if possible, the bush itself." 



In July of last year, when staying at Keith, I took the 

 opportunity of journeying to see the bush in question. 

 Guided by directions from Professor Trail, I had no 

 difficulty in rinding it on the Huntly road about two miles 

 from Turiff. A careful examination of its characters con- 

 vinced me that it was indeed what I had suspected, viz. the 

 hybrid R. pinipinellifolia x rubiginosa. Moreover, the leaves 

 had a faint but decided sweet-briar odour not perceptible on 

 dried specimens. What rather surprised me was that I saw 

 neither R. rubiginosa nor R. pinipinellifolia in the neighbour- 

 hood. On proceeding about half a mile farther, I came to 

 a little hamlet, and on the bank just outside a garden I 

 found three other bushes of the same hybrid. This was 

 rather suspicious, and whilst returning next day by road to 

 Keith, I kept a good look-out, with the result that I saw, in 

 at least three gardens, the same rose actually in cultivation. 

 Moreover, I found it also being cultivated in two cases at 

 Keith, the cultivators in both cases imagining that it was 

 the real sweet-briar. It would seem, therefore, that the bush 

 which occurs on the roadside near Turiff must also be 

 an escape from cultivation, and that R. pinipinellifolia x 

 rubiginosa is still unknown in Aberdeenshire as a native 

 hybrid. 



The question may be asked " Is this rose one which has 

 occurred in Nature and has been taken into cultivation, or 

 is it one which has been formed by the agency of man ? " 

 There can be no doubt that the hybrid does occur in 

 Nature, for on the bank of the Tay below Caputh bridge, 

 where I found it in 1897, it was growing beside its parents, 

 and was undoubtedly a natural occurrence. But as to its 

 origin in Aberdeenshire I know nothing. Possibly further 

 research may throw some light upon the matter. 



Comparing the Aberdeenshire with the Caputh hybrid, 

 there does not seem to be any very material difference. 



