ii6 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



NOTES ON SCOTTISH ROSES. 

 By WILLIAM BARCLAY. 



IN the beginning of 1894 I was asked to enter into corre- 

 spondence with Professor Crepin, of Brussels, with the view 

 of supplying him with selected specimens of our Scottish 

 roses. To that request I gladly acceded ; for, having paid 

 some attention to roses for several years, I had found their 

 study to be full of interest certainly, but also full of diffi- 

 culty. It was therefore with much pleasure that I welcomed 

 the opportunity of obtaining the opinion of such an authority 

 as Professor Crepin upon many points concerning which I 

 was in great doubt. 



In April of that year I sent him a first parcel of about 

 IOO specimens, duplicates from my own herbarium ; and in 

 the following autumn I forwarded a second parcel of about 

 240 specimens, gathered in the summer of that year, and of 

 which I also retained numbered duplicates. Then in the 

 autumn of 1895 I forwarded a third parcel of over 100 

 specimens gathered in the previous summer. On each of 

 these parcels I received a full report from Professor Crepin ; 

 and in the sequel I purpose to state the chief points of 

 these three reports, combining them as far as possible into 

 one. The classification of species is, of course, that of 

 Professor Crepin ; and the translation of his notes is put 

 within quotation-marks to distinguish it from any remarks 

 of my own. I have inserted also the number of specimens 

 sent by me of each species and variety, and the localities in 

 which these were gathered ; but it must be understood that 

 in giving localities I do not profess to give anything like an 

 adequate idea of the distribution of any form, and that 

 nothing is to be deduced as to its abundance or rarity from 

 the number of specimens collected and sent by me. 



I cannot conclude these introductory remarks without 

 mentioning the great kindness and courtesy which I have 

 received from Professor Crepin during our correspondence. 

 He has presented me with copies of many of his valuable 



