]52 REMARKS ON THE INDIGENOUS ROSES OF AMERICA. 



species, the Rosa rugosa, the solitary flower of which bears some re- 

 semblance to the Kamschatkan rose. 



"The southern provinces of Asia, comprehending those of India, 

 offer many curious species to our observation. The north of Hin- 

 dostan possesses six ; two of which are also found in China, and two in 

 Nepaul. The Rosa Lyellii, which bears transplantation to our own 

 climate, and is remarkable for the profusion of its milk-white flowers 

 during the greater part of the summer ; and the Rosa Brunonii, whose 

 petals are of the same snowy whiteness, rank high among the Roses of 

 India. In approaching the southern provinces, we find the Rosa macro- 

 phjlla, somewhat resembling the Alpine Roses of Europe ; the flowers 

 whitish, but streaked with pink towards the extremity of the petals ; 

 the Rosa sericea, of which the surface of the leaflets has a satin tex- 

 ture, and the flowers are solitary and drooping. 



" The parched shores of the Gulf of Bengal are covered, during the 

 spring, with a beautiful white rose found also in China and Nepaul. 

 The flowers of the Rosa involucrata are white, solitary, surrounded 

 with a collar of three or four leaves, out of which they seem to emerge ; 

 while in vast thickets of the beautiful Rosa semperflorens, (a native 

 also of China,) the tigers of Bengal and crocodiles of the Ganges are 

 known to lie in wait for their prey. 



"J.n the gardens of Kandahar, Samarcand, and Ispahan, the Rosa 

 arborea is cultivated in great profusion by the Persians. This shrub, 

 which attains a considerable size, is covered during the spring with an 

 abundance of white and scented blossoms. The Rosa berberifolia is 

 also common in these provinces. This shrub, differing so completely 

 from every other species of rose, that botanists experience some hesita- 

 tion in classing it among the number, has simple single leaves, and 

 yellow star-shaped flowers, variegated like a cistus at the base, with 

 spots of deep crimson. The Rosa Damascena, transported to Europe 

 from Damascus, by the Crusaders, affording to our gardens an infinite 

 number of beautiful varieties, adorns the sandy deserts of Syria with 

 its sweet and brightly tinted flowers. At the extremity of Asia, to- 

 wards Constantinople, the Rosa sulphurea displays its very double 

 flowers of a brilliant yellow. 



" The north-west of Asia, which has been signalized as the father- 

 land of the Rose-tree, introduces to our admiration the Rosa centifolia, 

 the most esteemed of all, and celebrated by poets of every age and 

 country, with which the fair Georgians and Circassians adorn their 

 persons. The Rosa ferox mingles its large red blossoms and thorny 

 branches with those of the hundred-leaved ; and the Rosa pulveru- 

 lenta is also observed on the peak of Narzana, one of the Caucasian 

 chain. 



" In the north of Asia, Siberia boasts the Rosagrandiflora, of which 

 the corolla bears the form of an antique cup ; the Rosa Caucasea, the 

 fruit of which is of a pulpy substance; and, still adjoining the Cau- 

 casian provinces, we find a yellowish variety of the Caucasea, of a 

 dinuy, unattractive appearance. Advancing towards the Frozen Ocean, 

 and beyond the Ural Mountains, grows the Rosa rubella, of which the 

 petals are sometimes of a deep crimson, but often pale and colourless 



