RO S 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



ROS 



483 



gantly striped or variegated with red and white ; in other 

 circumstances it so perfectly resembles the Red Rose, that 

 there can be no doubt of its being a variety of that; indeed 

 it frequently happens that a Red Rose or two appears on the 

 same plant with the variegated flowers. The varieties called 

 Childing, Marble, and Double Virgin Roses, have, in Mr. 

 Miller's judgment, great affinity with each other. The 

 flowers of this species possess neither the fragrance nor the 

 opening quality of the preceding species ; but are chiefly 

 valued for their astringency, which is most considerable be- 

 fore the petals expand, and therefore in this state they are 

 chosen for medical use, and ordered in different preparations, 

 as a conserve, honey, infusion, and a syrup. These prepa- 

 rations, especially the first and second, have been highly 

 esteemed in phthisical cases, particularly by the Arabian 

 physicians. But in all the cases cited, it appears that the 

 use of the conserve of roses was constantly joined with that 

 of milk and farinacea, together with proper exercise in the 

 open air; and hence it has very properly been doubted 

 whether the recovery could be wholly imputed to the roses, 

 though their mild, astringent, and corroborant virtues, cer- 

 tainly contributed much. In some cases, twenty or thirty 

 pounds of the conserve were taken in the space of a month. 

 The infusion is a grateful cooling subastringent, taken for 

 spitting of blood, in which its efficacy chiefly depends 011 

 its acidity. The syrup derives its use merely from its co- 

 lour. Both the acidity and the colour of the petals are best 



preserved by hasty drying. The following directions of 



Mr. Miller relate to many of the other species, and which 

 are referred to this, as well as to the English Rose itself. 

 The usual time of these shrubs producing their flowers, is 

 from the middle or latter end of May till the middle of July. 

 But in order to continue these beauties longer than they are 

 naturally disposed to last, it is proper to plant some of the 

 Monthly Roses near a warm wall, which will occasion their 

 budding at least three weeks or a month before those in the 

 open air; and if you afford them the help of a glass before 

 them, it will bring their flowers much forwarder, especially 

 where dung is placed to the back of the wall, as is prac- 

 tised in raising early fruits. You may also cut off the tops 

 of such shoots as have been produced the same spring, 

 early in May, from some of these sorts of Roses which are 

 planted in the open air and strong soil; this will cause them 

 to make new shoots, which will flower late in autumn, as 

 will also the late removing the plants in spring, provided 

 they do not suffer by drought. The Monthly Rose is the 

 best sort for this purpose, there being no other which will 

 flower so well, both early and late. The next sort of Rose 

 which flowers in the open air, is the Ciirnamon, which is 

 immediately followed by the Damask Rose ; then come the 

 Blush, York and Lancaster; after which the Provence, 

 Dutch Hundred-leaved, and White, and most other sorts, 

 follow. The latest kinds are the Virginian and Musk 

 Roses, which, if planted in a shady situation, seldom flower 

 until September, and, if the autumn prove mild, will often 

 continue till the middle of October. The plants of the two 

 sorts of Musk Roses should be placed against a wall or 

 pale, to support their slender and weak branches from trail- 

 ing on the ground. Their branches should not be pruned 

 until spring, for they often die after being cut in winter. 

 They produce their flowers at the extremities of the same 

 year's shoots in large bunches; so that their branches must 

 not be shortened in the summer, lest the flowers should be 

 cut off. They will grow to ten or twelve feet high, and 

 must not be checked in their growth , if you intend they should 

 flower well. See the first species, for further particulars. 

 VOL. ii. 106. 



20. Rosa Damascena; Damask Rose. Calices semipin- 

 nate ; fruits ovate, turgid, with the peduncles hispid ; stem 

 and petioles prickly; leaflets ovate, acuminate, villose under- 

 neath. The corolla is of a soft pale red, and not very double ; 

 the hips are long and smooth. There are many varieties of 

 this elegant plant, which has not been accurately distin- 

 guished from the fourteenth and nineteenth species. The 

 Red and Blush varieties differ only in the shade of their colour; 

 The York and Lancaster Rose differs only in the flower being 

 variegated with white stripes ; the Red and White Monthly 

 Roses, are so called from their continuing to blow in succes- 

 sion during the greatest part of the summer, not that they blow 

 in every month, as the name implies ; the Blush Belgic Rose 

 has very double flowers of a pale flesh-colour, with little 

 scent, generally in great quantities ; and the Red Belgic 

 Rose differs only in having the colour of the flower a deep 

 red. See the first and nineteentn species, for the proper 

 treatment of these flowers. 



21. Rosa Sempervirens ; Evergreen Rose. Fruits ovate ; 

 calices and peduncles hispid; stem and petioles prickly; 

 flowers subumbelled ; bractes lanceolate, reflex. Parkinson 

 remarks, this Rose-bush is very like the Wild Single Eglan- 

 tine ; and that the lowest pair of leaflets are the smallest, the 

 next bigger, the third bigger still, and the end leaf biggest 

 of all. The flowers are small, single, and white, having a 

 musky odour. In their natural place of growth they continue 

 in succession a great part of the year, but they flower here in 

 June. Native of Germany. 



22. Rosa Pumila ; Dwarf Austrian Rose. Fruit ovate, 

 with the peduncles hispid; petioles and stem prickly; leaves 

 glaucous underneath, with the serratures glandular. Native 

 of Austria and Italy. 



23. Rosa Turbinata; Frankfort Rose. Fruits turbinate, 

 with the peduncles hairy; petioles villose; prickles scattered, 

 recurved. The flower is as thick and double as a Red Rose, 

 but so strongly swelling in the bud, that many of them break 

 down before they can be full blown ; and then they are of a 

 pale red rose colour, between a red and a damask. Native 

 place unknown. Its principal use is for a stock to bud the 

 more tender sorts of Roses upon, for the flowers seldom 

 open fair, and have no scent; but it being a vigorous 

 shooter, renders it proper for stocks to bud the Yellow and 

 Austrian Roses, which will render them stronger than upon 

 their own stocks. It requires a northern exposure, and will 

 not flower in too warm a situation. 



24. Rosa Rubiginosa; Common Sweet- Briar, or Eglantine. 

 Fruits obovate, with the peduncles hispid; petioles and stem 

 prickly; prickles recurved; leaves ovate, glandular, hairy 

 underneath. The garden shrub grows larger, and more 

 erect; the leaves are bigger and rauch sweeter, than in the 

 wild one, the rusty colour of them disappears, and the whole 

 puts on a more vigorous appearance. There are varieties 

 with double flowers; as the Common Double Sweet Briar, 

 the Mossy Double Sweet Briar, the Evergreen Double Sweet 

 Briar, the Marbled Double Sweet Briar, the Red Double 

 Sweet Briar, the Royal Sweet Briar, and the Yellow Sweet 

 Briar; all very elegant shrubs in ornamental plantations. 

 It makes beautiful and fragrant, though not long-lived 

 hedges ; and bears forcing well. 



25. Rosa Muscosa ; Moss Provence Rose. Fruits ovate ; 

 calices, peduncles, petioles, and branchlets, hispid, glandular, 

 viscid ; spines of the branches scattered, straight. The 

 flowers are of a beautiful crimson colour, and have a most 

 agreeable odour. The peduncles and calix are covered with 

 a long hair-like Moss ; hence it is commonly called the Moss 

 Rose. It is only known to us in its double state, its native 



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