ROSA CENTIFOLIA.-HUNDRED LEAVED ROSE. 



CLASS, ICOSANDRIA J ORDEE, POLYGYNIA. 

 NATURAL ORDER, ROSACEUE. 



GEN. CHAR. Calyx, pitcher shaped ; five cleft, fleshy, contract- 

 ed at the neck. Petals, five. Seeds very many, hispid, fastened 

 to the inner side of the calyx. SPEC. CHAR. Fruit ovate, with 

 peduncles hispid. Stem hispid, prickly. Peteoles unarmed. 



This rose is the emblem of the Graces, as they always wore a 

 wreath of it when following the Muses in ancient mythology. Cu- 

 pid picked up one which dropped from a coronal, and gave it as a 

 bribe to Harpocrates, the god of Silence ; from whence came the 

 custom of suspending it over the banqueting tables of conspira- 

 tors, in temples, and all other places where it was necessary to pre- 

 serve secrecy ; when this was done, all the subsequent proceedings 

 were considered " Under the Rose." 



It is a general rule that the essential oil obtained from a flower 

 is in an inverse proportion to the strength of its odor ; the per- 

 fume of the hundred leaved rose is very weak, which makes it the 

 only one employed in purposes of distillation ; and 100 Ibs. of the 

 flowers yield 3-8 of an oz. of oil. 



This species has prickly stems, which usually rise from three to 

 six feet in height ; its general appearance needs no particular de- 

 scription, as every person is well acquainted with it. The blos- 

 soms have been employed very extensively as a medicine, and the 



