DOG ROSE 171 
were decked with it on St. Barnabas’ Day. The clergy used to wear 
garlands of roses, and churches were adorned with it on Corpus Christi 
Day. Roses were said to fade on 20th July, St. Mary Magdalene's 
Day. The Rose was said to have formed the Crown of Thorns. If 
roses bloom in autumn it indicates an epidemic in the year. In Italy 
it is unlucky for a rose to drop its leaves. 
“Robin Redbreasts”, as the plants were also called, were once 
used for whooping-cough, and the leaves as a poultice in Greece. 
When the birds complained of the nightingale’s nightly wailings, the 
latter replied that the rose was the cause of its grief. The first 
rosaries were roses that replaced the brands on a maiden accused 
of wrong and doomed to death at Bethlehem. 
The colour of the rose is due to Mohammed’s blood, so the Turks 
tell us. There is a Roumanian legend as follows: ‘It is early 
morning, and a young princess comes down into her garden to bathe 
in the silver waves of the sea. The transparent whiteness of her com- 
plexion is seen through the slight veil which covers it, and shines 
through the blue waves like the morning star in the azure sky. She 
springs into the sea, and mingles in the silvery rays of the sun which 
sparkle on the dimples of the laughing waves. The sun stands still to 
gaze upon her; he covers her with kisses and forgets his duty. Once, 
twice, thrice, has the night advanced to take her sceptre and reign over 
the world; twice has she found the sun upon her way. Since that day 
the lord of the universe has changed the princess into a rose, and this 
is why the rose always hangs her head and blushes when the sun gazes 
on her.” 
“Under the rose” owes its significance to the habit of wearing 
roses in garlands. 
The hips are made into a conserve used in medicine, and as a 
dessert in Gerarde’s day, who says they ‘‘maketh the most pleasante 
meates and banqueting dishes, and tarts, and such like”. The petals 
were used in Chaucer’s time for wounds and ointments. The rose 
has long been used in perfumes. It has been cultivated, and much 
improved in the process in colour, scent, and form. 
ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS :— 
104. Rosa cantina, L.—Stem erect, branches arching, prickles equal, 
hooked, leaflets flat, leaves pinnate, serrate, flowers white, large, petals 
notched, peduncles smooth, sepals reflexed, not persistent, styles hairy, 
fruit scarlet, many-seeded. 
