Mr. Woods on the British Species of Rosa. 191 



On examination of the original specimens of Jv. mollis in the 

 Herbarium of Sir J. E. Smith, it appears to me that, of the 

 places of growtli mentioned in Engl. Bot. Mr. Jackson's only can 

 be safely quoted for this species, and that the others belong to 

 R. tomentosa, to which I must also attribute the " Rosa sylvestris, 

 folio mollilcr hirsuto, fnictu rotundo glabra, cahjce et pediculo hispi- 

 dis" of Dillenius in Rail Srjn. 478. The Rev. Hugh Davies ob- 

 serves, that in the plants he finds, the fruit varies from perfect 

 smoothness to every degree of roughness ; but as R. villosa and 

 R. tomentosa have been hitherto described " fructu hispido," and 

 both species are liable to vary in that respect, I do not perceive 

 that this observation can at all tend to determine the synonym. 

 It is far more likely to be a smooth-fruited variety of R. tomentosa 

 (which certainly occurs in Middlesex and Surrey), than the pre- 

 sent species, which we have no reason to suppose was ever found 

 in those counties. 



1 have drawn up the description of this plant from a specimen 

 gathered in Mr. \ ere's garden at Kensington, in September 1814, 

 and from another gathered in Mr. Sabine's garden at North Mims 

 in June 1815. These two plants proceeded originally I under- 

 stand from the same root. 



I have already observed, that in most of our Roses the earlier 

 leaves of each sort are obtuse : this species seems to have a greater 

 quantity of these leaves than most others. 



A plant agreeing closely with these specimens is sold by Lee 

 and by Loddiges under the name of R. villosa, except that the 

 aculei are stronger and slightly curved, approaching therefore 

 more closely to the plant of the Linnaean Herbarium : but thouofh 

 the general character of the aculei is of the greatest consequence, 

 1 do not find these minute differences much to be depended upon. 



Though 



