244 ROSACEA 



leaflets serrated, their disk without glands ; calyx simple ; fruit nearly- 

 globular, erect. This, though not one of the prettiest, ranks certainly among 

 the most fragrant of our wild Roses, but it is by no means generally diffused. 

 It is a thick bush, from two to four feet in height ; its dark purplish brown 

 stems and branches being so prickly, that it is a difficult matter to gather 

 a bough of its delicate white roses. These are small and numerous, often 

 cream-coloured, rarely snowy white, and no less rarely having a blush of 

 faint red on their petals. The small roundish buds, tinged with a streak 

 or two of deep red, are exceedingly pretty. The plant often grows on open 

 sandy heaths, lending its roses to grace the nosegay of wild thyme and other 

 heath flowers ; and on the chalky banks of Kent it thrives so well as to form 

 a good thick hedge-row, while it is almost the only British Rose which may 

 be found on the sandy seashore, where it often flourishes, though it becomes 

 more dwarfed and spreading in its mode of growth. Gerarde calls it 

 Pimpernel Rose, not because it in any way resembles the flower which we 

 now call Pimpernel, but because its leaves are much like those of the Burnet, 

 which, as has been mentioned, was called Pimpernel by the older writers. 

 The black fruit, the Cat-hip of country people, when fully ripe, is very juicy, 

 and the expressed juice, diluted with water, dyes silk of a peach colour, or, 

 with the addition of alum, renders it of a rich violet hue, but it has little 

 effect on muslin or linen. The leaves have often spots of a bright yellow 

 hue upon them, which are caused by the fungus called Golden Uredo 

 (UrMo aurea). Scarcely any species of Rose affords a greater number of 

 varieties than this to the cultivator of floAvers. 



4. Red-fruited Dwarf Rose (E. ruhilla). — Stem and branches thickly 

 crowded with bristles ; prickles few, straight and slender ; leaflets simply 

 serrated, naked, their disk without glands ; fruit oblong, or cup-shaped, and 

 pendulous. Plant perennial. It flowers in June, and its fruit is of a 

 brilliant red colour. This is a very doubtful native. It has been reported 

 from a few places on the sandy shores of Northumberland, and on the 

 borders of the Dee at Abergeldy, but the records have not been authenticated. 



5. Irish Rose {R. /wiermca).— Shoots and branches bearing scattered 

 prickles, intermixed with a few bristles ; leaves simply serrated, hairy 

 beneath, their disk without glands ; calyx leaf-like and pinnate ; flowers 

 mostly solitary, or two or three together. Plant perennial. The localities 

 of this Rose are not confined to Ireland; it occurs also in England. Its 

 fruit is crimson. It flowers in May, and continues for some months in 

 blossom. 



6. Wilson's Rose {R. wilsdni). — Prickles crowded and straight, inter- 

 mixed with glandular hairs ; leaflets serrate, and hairy on both surfaces, their 

 disk without glands ; fruit egg-shaped, somewhat cup-shaped. This scarlet- 

 fruited species is found on the banks of the Menai, near Bangor, and at 

 Derry. Its small white flowers expand in June and July. It is sometimes 

 regarded as a variety of the next species. 



7. Prickly Unexpanded Rose (R. invoMfa). — Prickles crowded, 

 straight, and intermixed with glandular bristles; leaflets doubly serrated, 

 hairy, glandular beneath. Plant perennial. This dwarf Rose is found in 

 the Hebrides and Western Highlands, flowering in June. 



