2 THE PROVENCE ROSE. 



THE PROVENCE, OR CABBAGE, ROSE. 



(ROSA CENTIFOLIA.) 



Rosier Cent Feuilles. 



THIS rose has long and deservedly been the fa* 

 vourite ornament of English gardens ; and if, as 

 seems very probable, it was the hundred-leaved 

 rose of Pliny, and the favourite flower of the 

 Romans, contributing in no small degree to the 

 luxurious enjoyments of that great people, it 

 claims attention as much for its high antiquity 

 as for its intrinsic beauty. 1596 is given by 

 botanists as the date of its introduction to our 

 gardens. That ' Prince of gardeners,' Miller, 

 says that it is the prettiest of all roses ; and this 

 idea still prevails to a great extent in the agri- 

 cultural districts of England, where, in the farm 

 and cottage gardens, the Cabbage Rose and 

 the Double Wall-flower are the most esteemed 

 inmates; forming in their turns, with a sprig of 

 rosemary, the Sunday bouquet of the respectable 

 farm-servant and cottager. 



The groves of Mount Caucasus are said to be 

 its native places of growth, and also Languedoc 

 and Provence ; but the claims of these latter have 

 been disputed. I lately wrote to a very old rose 

 amateur in France for information on this point. 

 He informs me that the species with single flowers 

 is, found in a wild state in the southern provinces ; 



