THE DAMASK ROSE. 19 



59. Princess; flowers blush white. 



60. Princess Elizabeth; flowers bright pink. 

 01. Proserpine; flowers pale pink. 



62. Purpurea ; flowers purplish red. 



63. Pythagoras ; flowers marbled red or rose. 

 G4. Queen of May; flowers bright pink. 



05. Saturnia; flowers white. 



06. Saxonia ; flowers pale rose. 



07. Sergia; flowers purple. 



08. Shakspeare; flowers deep red. 



09. Socrates; flowers striped blush. 



70. Sulphurea; flowers straw-coloured. 



71. True Yellow; (Hybrid) flowers pale yellow when first expanding, dying 



off creamy white. 



72. Venus ; flowers dark rose. 



73. Victoria ; (Hybrid) flowers dark red and rose shaded, double ; form ex- 



panded. Growth, moderate. 



74. Viscountess of Strathallan ; flowers blush. 



75. Waverley ; flowers red. 



76. William the IV. ; flowers white, large. 



ROSA SAMASCENA. 



Group IV.— THE DAMASK ROSE. 



In common parlance, all dark Roses are termed Damask, probably from the first 

 dark varieties having borne this name. But this is erroneous. There are dark 

 Roses belonging to almost every group ; and there are Damask Roses of various 

 colours : some are white. The Damask are readily distinguished from others by 

 a robustness of growth, in conjunction with rough, spinous shoots, and downy, 

 coriaceous leaves of a light green colour. Owing to this latter feature, they 

 present a striking contrast when introduced among other groups. The flowers 

 are mostly of fair size ; some are large, and all are showy. Belonging here are 

 some very pretty pink Roses, with a delicate tint of salmon pervading the flowers, 

 rendering them alike distinct and beautiful. 



The Damask Rose is allowed to be of great antiquity. Some suppose it to be 

 of this Virgil speaks in the Georgics and elsewhere. It is generally believed 

 that it was first introduced from Syria, and brought to England in 1573. But 

 Johnson, in " The History of Gardening," says, " The learned Linacre, who died 

 in 1524, first introduced the Damask Rose from Italy." Who will fight the 

 battle ? We must not pause to do so. Wherever the truth may lie, it is evident 

 that it has been cultivated in England for a great length of time ; and it affords a 

 singularly striking example of the treasures Nature's plants arc capable of yielding 



