ROSA CAROLINA. SWAMP ROSE. I7I 



native Roses, color is the rule and white the variety; and the 

 latter is indeed so scarce that we know of no author but 

 Rafinesque w^ho refers to it. The white varieties seem to have 

 disappeared even from cultivation, as we have met with no one 

 who has seen any of late years. 



The Swamp Rose has not the grateful perfume of the Dwarf 

 Wild Rose, nor has it the perfectly outlined petals, or the 

 classical look in general, of that species. The flowers, indeed, 

 have a somewhat loose and ragged appearance ; but the plant, 

 nevertheless, presents certain features which delight the eye. 

 It is generally found growing in large numbers together, often 

 covering a whole acre or so; and in June, when the bushes are 

 in their flowering prime, the mass of blossoms is beautiful to 

 look upon ; while in the autumn, when the leaves of our plant 

 are of an orange brown, and all the bushes are aglow with the 

 crimson, berry-like fruit, there is hardly a more attractive sight 

 to be seen. The height of the Swamp Rose is about twice that 

 of the Dwarf Wild Rose, and the peculiar gray of the under 

 surface of the leaves, together with the dull, dark green of the 

 upper surface, affords a good mark of distinction. The two will 

 seldom, indeed, be confounded by the careful student, no matter 

 how much the Swamp Rose may vary from its original form ; 

 but if there should be any difficulty in determining the species, 

 the spines will decide the question, as they are straight in the 

 Dwarf Wild Rose, and hooked in the present species. In the 

 latter, the calyx leaves also remain on the fruit much longer 

 than in the former, but they fall completely before winter sets 

 in. On the specimen represented in Fig. 2 of our plate, they 

 are still partly to be seen ; and we may here remark that, while 

 botanical authors speak of the fruit as " depressed-globose," our 

 drawing is a faithful representation from nature. 



The attention of the poets has, so far, been given to the 

 Roses of the Old World almost entirely ; and indeed the only 

 direct poetical allusion to any of our native species that we can 

 find is by Mrs. Sarah J. Hale, who makes our Swamp Rose the 



