24 , ROSA CAROLINA. 
heats are past; bractee lanceolate, very concave, 
pointed, downy at the back; peduncles hispid, as is all 
the calyx, of which the tube is spherical and usually 
coloured, the sepals entire, with a very long narrow 
point and cottony edge; petals concave or flat, usually 
longer than the sepals, and deep red, crumpled; disk 
not very apparent; sfyles villous. Fruit scarlet, round, 
hispid, not losing the sepals till it is quite ripe. 
Shrubberies are often enlivened, where few other 
flowers are to be seen, by the copious crimson bloom 
of this very pretty plant. In its native marshes it is 
exceedingly variable, in height, size, shape and pubes- 
cence of leaves and number of flowers; nor is it much 
less disposed to sport when cultivated. Its most com- 
mon state is to be about six feet high with very nume- 
rous flowers and rather short peduncles. When the 
latter are lengthened a little, with a corresponding in- 
crease in their number, it becomes the R. corymbosa 
of Ebrhart. If its size is greater and its shoots paler 
than usual, it is R. palustris. An increase of pubescence 
makes it R. pennsylvanica. Sometimes, when the plant 
is unusually luxuriant, the ends of the shoots have no 
prickles, and then it is Rosa hudsoniana. 
Variety 6 has a diseased appearance, and is easily 
distinguished by the membranous texture of its leaves 
and their want of pubescence. 
