GENUS EOSA IN WARWICKSHIRE. 41 



THE DISTEIBUTION OF THE GENUS ROSA IN 

 WAEWICKSHIEE.* 



BY JAMES E. BAGNALL. 



" Yon rose-buds in the morning dew, 

 How pure amaug the leaves sae green." 



Bxirns. 



The beauty of the English wild rose is such that even the most 

 unscientific wanderer through oiu* country lanes instinctively gathers, 

 examines, (doubtless superficially,) and naturally loves it. But a 

 wild rose is a dog rose to the casual observer and nothiiig more. If I 

 were to tell these non-botanical collectors into how many species, 

 varieties, and forms, critical botanists have split up the genus, and that 

 one of my greatest pleasures has been that of hunting up these forms, 

 they would probably think me in a fair way for a lunatic asylum. 

 Unattractive as such studies must naturally be to the uninitiated, to me 

 they have a charm I cannot express, and I would any day cheerfully 

 wali many miles to see a rare rose or a rai'e bramble. 



When I first commenced the study of the family, I had only the fifth 

 edition of Babington's Manual as a text book, which, excellent as it is 

 in other points, scarcely seemed satisfactory in its treatment of this 

 genus ; hence it was that I hailed with pleasure the appearance of Mr. 

 J. G. Baker's valuable monograph of the genus liosa, published in Vol. 

 XI. of the " Proceedings of the Linnean Society, 1869," (page 197.) Being 

 thus provided with a good and complete guide, I recommenced the study 

 of the roses of Warwickshire. 



The sandy soils and neglected hedges of many parts of the county 

 seem to favour both the growth and variability of the wild rose, and I 

 soon found abundant materials for study. But before commencing to 

 study this difiicult genus in the field I obtained from the Rev. A. Bloxam 

 a fairly complete fasciculus of the British roses, and during the winter of 

 1869-70 I cax'efully examined these, comparing each with the descriptions 

 given in Mr. Baker's monograph. The knowledge thus obtained has 

 served me much in my subsequent work. During the years that have 

 since elapsed I have visited and collected specimens in nearly every 

 available Warwickshire district, and the specimens collected have all 

 been carefully compared with my type specimens and the descriptions iu 

 the monograph. 



Many of the districts south of Warwick I have visited in company 

 with my friend, Mr. H. Bromwich, an excellent botanist, who has paid 

 special attention to this genus, and has worked with great success most 

 of the country around Warwick. In the neighbom-hood of Harboro 

 Magna, near Rugby, I have had the company, guidance, and instruction 

 of that learned and veteran botanist, the Rev. A. Bloxam, who is Rector 

 of the village. In my notes I quote some of Mr. Bloxam's old stations, 

 near Atherstone, a district worked by him in former days. The following 

 list may, therefore, be considered as the result of the Rev. A. Bloxam's, 

 Mr. H. Bromwich's, and iny own observations, extending over many 

 years. It is, I believe, a fairly complete list of the Warwickshire roses. 



The nomenclature and classification adopted is that of Mr. Baker's 

 monograph, in which he divides the genus into five primary groups, viz. : 

 1, Spinosissim^ ; 2, Villos^ ; 3, Rubiginos^e ; 4, CaniN/E ; and 5, Systyl;e. 



* Abstract of Paper read before "The Birniingliam Natural History and 

 Micrescopical Society. 



