ROSA RUBIGINOSA-EGLANTINE, 



CLASS, ICOSANDRIA ; ORDER, POLYGYNIA. 

 NATURAL ORDER, ROSACEJB. 



GEN CHAR. Calyx, pitcher-shaped, five cleft, fleshy, contracted 

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

 the inner side of the calyx. SPEC. CHAR. Germ, egg-shaped. 

 Leaf and flower stalks, glandular, hispid. Stem, glabrous. 

 Prickles, scattered. Leaflets, five or seven, ovate, minutely cut 

 on the margin, sub-glandular beneath. 



The specific name of this plant is derived from a word mean- 

 ing rusty, on account of the rough appearance of the under side 

 of the leaves. It is common in the United States, where it is /-"' 

 known as the WILD BRIAR ROSE, SWEET BRIAR AND HEP TREE. 

 This universal favorite of the poets, whose breath Dryden thought 

 could relieve any degree of sickness, exhales a pleasing and 

 powerful perfume, which is more intense in the morning than 

 at any other time; the dew seeming to excite the odorous 

 secretion. The little factories or glands for the manufacture 

 of its essential oil, to which of course its fragrance is owing, 

 are diffused not only in the flowers but leaves, so that all parts 

 are highly scented. It has a branching stem, strongly armed with 

 prickles, rising to the height of three or four feet, as we gene- 

 rally see it in a sandy or rocky situation ; but transferred to a 

 rich garden soil and carefully cultivate^, the thorns rapidly 



