1()2 



Rosi-: SiM'XiES 



The genus Rosa ui\-es its name to the I'aniily Rosaceae, an ex- 

 tensive aggres^ation of trees, slinihs, and lierbaceous plants con- 

 taining such well-known subjects as Apple, Pear, F'each, Cherry, 

 Spiraea, Cotoneaster, Kerria, Stra\vl)err\', Ceum, and Potentilla. 

 Usually the flowers have fi\e (rarely foui" to nine) sepals and 

 petals. A few sjjecies of Rosa ha\ c only four petals; two of these, 

 R. omeiensis and R. sen'rea, are rei)resented in this garden. 



The Rose is found wild only in the Northern Hemisphere, 

 being most abundant in the north temi)erate regions. It is ex- 

 tremely widesi)read, langing from Oreenland and Kamchatka, 

 to Mexico, India. Northern Africa, and the Philip])ine Islands. 

 Botanists are far from agreeing on the number of species repre- 

 sented in the genus Rosa. Bentham and Hooker recognized 

 only al)out thirty species, while (jandoger, a French botanist, 

 described over four thousand s])ecies coming from Europt' and 

 Western Asia alone. Conservative opinions are that the s])ecies 

 number between one and two hundred. It has been estimated 

 that there are around sixteen thousand named \^arieties of roses. 



C.arden roses are, of course, derived originally from some of 

 the wild kinds and it is thus appropriate first to call attention 

 to the more importam and interesting of the rose species which 

 ai'c disi)layed in the wide bordei- that surrounds the garden. 



Many of these wild roses are of considerable value in garden 

 decoration, either as isolated s])ecimens on the border of the 

 lawn, in the shrubber>-. or in naturalistic plantings. In the lall 

 many of them ]:)rovide a disi)lay of attractive truits (called 

 "hips" or "heps"), in addition to abundance ot blossoms in late 

 spring or early summer. Then, too, there are some species with 

 attractive foliage, and some with large, conspicuous, colored 

 s]>ines. 



Kntering the garden from the north and j^roceeding down the 

 west walk, we will first notic{> Rosa virginiana. (R. hicida) native 

 from Newfoundland lo \'irginia, extending west to Missouri. 

 This has bright pink, rather large flowers. The foliage is good, 

 tinted with red in the fall, and ])rovides an excellent background 

 for its red fruits. It ma\- form a compact bush five feet high 

 but with us it is more lowlv and does not get above three feet. 



