137 



CHESHIllE ROSES. 



Br J. R. Matthews, M.A., F.L.S. 



In the Flora of Liverpool District by Green (1902) it is stated 

 tliat critical genera sucli as Ruhus and Rosa were not revised by the 

 committee entrusted with the preparation of a new edition of the 

 Liverpool Flora. The account of the roses given in Green's Flora 

 seems to be based to some extent on the earlier records published in 

 Lord de Tabley's Flora of Cheshire (1899) ; these records, though 

 revised and brought up to date with regard to nomenclature by the 

 Rev. W. Moyle Rogers, represent largely the work of Webb, a well- 

 known botanist and rhodologist, who resided in Birkenhead for several 

 years, and who was chiefly responsible for the Flora of Liverpool^ 

 pubhshed by the Liverpool Naturalists' Club in 1872. 



In a series of papers on the genus Rosa, published as Supplements 

 to this Journal (1908, 1910, 1911), Colonel Wolley-Dod incorporates 

 valuable notes on species and varieties collected in Cheshire, but the 

 writer is not acquainted with any recent publication dealing especially 

 with the Rose flora of this county. 



The material which forms the basis of the following account was 

 collected at odd intervals during the summers of 1917 and 1918 in the 

 district known as the Wirral Hundred of Cheshire. The greater 

 part of the area lies between lat. 53° 15' and 53° 25', and the highest 

 point in the district is Heswall Hill, 360 feet. As might be expected, 

 the boreal and montane elements of the British Rose Flora are rather 

 scantily represented, but the area provides abundant material of those 

 species having a more general distribution. 



In the list which follows, I deal mainly with those Cheshire Roses 

 I have myself seen or gathered, but I have also made considerable use 

 of Colonel Wolley-Dod's notes on forms from the county in order that 

 the list may present as full an account as possible of the roses occurring 

 in the district under review. I have throughout attempted to give 

 segregate names to the plants collected, although I have done so with 

 considerable reserve for reasons I shall not attempt to discuss here. 

 Forms not recorded in Flora of Cheshire or Flora of Liverpool Dis- 

 trict, nor given for v.c. 58 in List of British Roses, are marked with 

 an asterisk, and are presumably additions to the county flora. 



I am much indebted to my friend Mr. W. Barclay for kindly 

 looking over my material and confirming my determinations. 



R. ARYEiS'Sis Huds. Abundant and widely distributed. *Var. 

 ovata Lej. occasional ; it seems to pass into the type, and it is doubt- 

 ful if it is even varietally distinct. *Var. erronea Rip. in a lane neai 

 Greasby. 



R. LTJTETiANA Lem. Exceedingly common. An example from 

 Meols has slightly hairy peduncles, and although Leman describes the 

 peduncles as glabrous or naked, I am convinced the Meols plant must 

 be placed to his species. Mr. Barclay agrees. Var. sphcerica Gren. 

 not uncommon. Var. separahilis Desegl. frequent. *YaT.Jle.vibilis 

 Desegl. between Bromborough and Raby. Var. senticosa Ach. 

 recorded for v.c. 58 by W.-Dod. 



Journal of Boti^y. — Vol. 58. [June, 1920.] l 



