22 THE FRENCH EOSE. 



better, when fully expanded, than any other 

 roses. In France, this is called the 'Provins 

 Eose ; ' and some varieties of it are classed in a 

 separate division, as 'Agathe Eoses.' These 

 have curled foliage, and pale-coloured compact 

 flowers remarkable for their crowded petals. 

 That very old striped rose, sometimes improperly 

 called the ' York and Lancaster ' Eose, seems 

 to have been one of the first variegations of Eosa 

 gallica, as it is mentioned by most of our early 

 writers on gardening. It is properly ' Eosa 

 mundi : ' the true York and Lancaster Eose is a 

 Damask Eose. 



To describe a selection of these roses is no easy 

 task, as the plants differ so little in their habits, 

 and their flowers, though very dissimilar in ap- 

 pearance, yet offer so few prominent descriptive 

 characteristics. Only a few years since, varieties 

 of this group were reckoned by the hundred. 

 The once-famed collection of the Messrs. Loddiges, 

 of Hackney, consisting, it was said, of 2,000 sorts 

 of roses, owed its fame to nominal varieties of this 

 group. The names were pleasing to the ear ; but 

 the eye searched in vain for distinct characters in 

 the flowers. Only a few of these roses are now 

 worth retaining, remarkable for their fine shape 

 and capability of being exhibited as ' show roses,' 

 i.e. as single blooms, in the manner of dahlias and 

 other flowers. To describe them in as few words 

 as possible, it will perhaps be the most eligible 



