BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION. 19 



R. alba, TAn. — The Common "White Rose. — Leaflets 

 oblong, glaucous, rather naked above, simply serrated. 

 IVickk'S strai<,'htish or falcate, slender or strong, without 

 bristles. Sepals pinnate, rellexed. Fruit unarmed. Na- 

 tive of Piedmont, Cochin China, Denmark, France, and 

 Saxony. Flowers large, either wliite, or of the most 

 delicate blush color, with a grateful fragrance. Fruit ob- 

 long, scarlet, or blood-colored. A shrub, growing from 

 four feet to ten feet in height, and flowering in June and 

 July. 



RUBIGINOS-aE.— Brier Roses. 



Prickles unequal, sometimes bristle-formed, rarely want- 

 ing. Leaflets ovate or oblong, glandular, with diverging 

 serratures. Sepals permanent. Disk thickened. Root- 

 shoots arched. The numerous glands on the lower surface 

 of the leaves will be suflScient to prevent anything else 

 being referred to this section ; and although R. tomentosa 

 has sometimes glandular leaves, the inequality of the 

 prickles of the species of Rubiginosse, and their red fruit, 

 w411 clearly distinguish them. This division includes all 

 the Eglantine, or Sweet-brier Roses. 



R. rubiginosa Li7i. — Rusty-leaved Rose, Sweet- 

 Brier, or Eglantine. — R. suavifolia, Lightf. R. Eglan- 

 teria. Mill. R. agrestis, SavL R. rubiginosa parviflora. 

 Rail. Prickles hooked, compressed, with smaller straight- 

 er ones interspersed. Leaflets elliptical, doubly serrated, 

 hairy, clothed beneath with rust-colored glands. Sepals 

 pinnate, and bristly, as well as the peduncles. Fruit obo- 

 vate, bristly toward the base. Native throughout Europe, 

 and of Caucasus. In Britain, in bushy places, on a dry 

 gravelly or chalky soil. Leaves sweet-scented when 

 bruised, and resembling the fragrance of the Pippin Apple. 

 When dried in the shade, and prepared as a tea, they 

 make a healthful and pleasant beverage. 



This species is extensively used in Europe for the for- 

 mation of Tea Roses, and it is estimated that two hund- 

 red thousand are budded annually in the vicinity of 



