ROSE TRIBE 243 



its ycvy luxuriant growth in the early spring affords a good quantity of 

 herbage, and it may be mowed thrice during the summer ; but it was not 

 found to succeed, and it was then said that cattle were not fond of it. 

 Mr. Purton, in his "Flora of the Midland Counties," remarks on this 

 subject, that on Salis])ury Plain, between that place and Everley, this plant 

 forms almost the whole staple of herbage over a great extent of that most 

 excellent sheep-walk ; and the failure in other places may, he thinks, be 

 owing to the cultivators having selected a wrong soil for its groAvth, as the 

 plant never grows naturally on any other than chalky ground. Valuable as 

 it is for sheep, it is probable, howevei", that horned cattle do not like it. 



This species of Burnet seems to be that which has acquired so much 

 celebrity as the toper's plant, for it was customary to infuse it in various 

 liquors, and with the Borage and some other flowers it helped to compose 

 that celebrated beverage, called a cool tankard. The old herbalist, who 

 called it Pimiyinella and Bipitla solhcgrella, prized it very highly. " It is," 

 says Culpepper, " an herb the sun challengeth dominion over, and is a most 

 precious herb, little inferior to betony ; the continual use of it preserves the 

 body in health, and the spirits in vigour, for if the sun be the preserver of 

 life, under God, then his herbs are the best in the world to do it." He adds, 

 " It is a friend to the heart and liver. Two or three of the stalks put into 

 a cask of wine, especially claret, are known to quicken the spirits, refresh 

 and clear the heart, and drive away melancholy. It is a special help to 

 defend the head from noisome vapours, and from infection of the pestilence." 



The author of the " Journal of a Naturalist " remarks, " The common 

 Burnet of our pastures in a remarkable degree possesses the faculty of pre- 

 serving its verdure, and flourishing amid surrounding aridity and exhaustion. 

 It is probable that these plants and some others have the power of imbibing 

 that insensible moisture which arises from the earth even in the driest 

 weather, or from the air which passes over them. The immense evaporation 

 proceeding from the earth even in the hottest season supplies the air con- 

 stantly with moisture, and as every square foot of this element can sustain 

 eleven grains of water, an abundant provision is made for every demand." 



14. Rose, Dog Rose, Sweet Briar {Rosa). 

 * Prickles slightly curved, and intermixed with bristles. Bracts large. 



1. Dickson's Rose {Pi. dicksdni). — Shoots bristly; prickles scattered, 

 slender, awl-shaped ; leaflets oval, twice serrated, hoary ; sepals long, simple, 

 equal ; fi'uit egg-shaped, somewhat cup-shaped. Plant perennial. This Rose 

 was recorded from Ireland by Mr. J. Drummond, but though usually enum- 

 erated among our British species, its discovery has never been confirmed. 



2. Cinnamon Rose {Pi. cinnaniumea). — Shoots bristly; prickles few, 

 slender, awl-shaped ; leaflets lanceolate, somewhat oblong, serrated, downy, 

 and glandular beneath. Plant perennial. This Rose has been found in a 

 wood in Yorkshire, but in all probability as an escape from a garden. 



* * Prickles slightly curved ; bracts small, or none. 



3. Burnet-leaved Rose {R. spinosissima). — Prickles very numerous and 

 crowded, mostly straight, of various sizes, and intermixed with bristles ; 



31—2 



