THE BOOK OP ROSES. 



infinite number of beautiful varieties, adorns 

 the sandy deserts of Syria with its sweet and 

 brightly-tinted flowers. At the extremity of 

 Asia, towards Constantinople, the Rosa sul- 

 phurea displays its very-double flowers of a 

 brilliant yellow. 



The ndrth-west of Asia, which has been 

 signalized as the father-land of the rose-tree, 

 introduces to our admiration the Rosa centifo- 

 lia, 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 Rosa 

 grandiflora, 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 Caucasian provinces, we find 

 a yellowish variety of the Caucasea, of a dingy, 

 unattractive appearance. Advancing towards 

 the Frozen Ocean, and beyond the Ural Moun- 

 tains, grows the Rosa rubella, of which the 

 petals are sometimes of a deep crimson, but 

 often pale and colourless as the surrounding 

 country. Still further north, flourishes the 

 Rosa acicularis, bearing solitary flowers of a 



