ROSA. ALPINA IN BRITAIN. 185 



Cambridge, who, with his usual kindness and urbanity, confirmed my 

 opinion by naming it Rosa alpiiia, a native of the "Alps, Germany, Pied- 

 mont, and Siberia." 



This Rosa, as far as I am aware, has not hitherto been observed in 

 Britain ; neither do I consider it as aboriginal to the British Isles. The 

 great difficulty is to account for its present position on KinnouU Hill. 

 Should it be discovered elsewhere in this country, there can be no danger 

 of confounding it with any of our British species, its appearance being 

 very distinct from them. The leaves are pinnate, and consist of four pairs 

 of ovate, pointed, serrated leaflets, the terminal leaflet or ninth being 

 rather larger than the others. It appears to be destitute of prickles, and, 

 as far as regards the form of its leaves (only,) has some resemblance to the 

 Burnet Rose. The fruit, however, is very different, being urceolate and 

 curved, smooth, and terminated by the sepals of the calyx, which are long 

 and awl-shaped, or rather spindle-shaped. 



Dr. White states there were several bushes in the locality, each from 

 three to four feet in height. 



Bridge End, Perth, August^ 1864. 



From Mr. J. G. Baker. 



Rosa alpina does not fall under any of the five groups which have 

 already been described in the " Naturalist." 



The Alpines are low bushes, either entirely without prickles or with 

 only a few weak ones on the main stems, but with the younger branches often 

 furnished rather plentifully with slender aciculi, doubly dentate leaves, 

 quite glabrous on the upper surface, and either glabrous or a little hairy 

 and glandular on the midrib beneath, naked or more or less glandular and 

 aciculate peduncles, simple, or nearly simple, but long leaf-pointed sepals, 

 which are almost naked, or more or less glandular on the back, and which 

 are truly persistent on the bright-red often pendant fruit, and more or less 

 hairy free styles. 



They have their head quarters in the Alps, with outlying stations 

 westward, and northward in the Pyrenees, the hills of Auvergue, the Vosges, 

 the Jura, the Sudetes, and in Baden. 



Linnaeus describes two species, alpina and pendulina, Koch and 

 Grenier unite these together into one, Deseglise separates them into six. 



Mr. Sim's plant is the genuine R. aljnna of Deseglise. The specimen 



