NOVEMBER. 



515 



as standards of color for comparison, we might dispense with 

 much of the ambiguity and circumlocution now used in de- 

 scribing roses. 



Another most fruitful and annoying source of error is the 

 want of accuracy in defining the form and fulness of roses. 

 One author describes a rose as " double," another " very dou- 

 ble," and another " perfectly double." Another rose is said 

 to be "full," "very full," and "perfectly full." Arose with 

 five petals is single ; with two sets or ten petals, double ; and 

 above this number there is no fixed character or rule of de- 

 scription, except under the general epithet, full, with its 

 various qualifications. The appearance of fulness in a rose 

 does not depend entirely upon the number of its petals, for 

 the size and form of the petals and size of the rose must be 

 taken into the account. For instance, Leveson Govver, 

 though a large rose, appears to be full, with an average of 

 only forty petals. The petals are all large and curled or 

 turned over at top, so as to fill up the rose. La Reine, in 

 good condition, averages eighty petals, some of which are 

 very small, so that it does not appear to be very full. Sou- 

 venir de Malmaison, probably the fullest of all roses when 

 well grown, will average two hundred petals, a great many 

 of which are small or imperfectly formed. The number of 

 petals averages the same in Bosanquet and Mad. Angelina ; 

 the former being the smaller appears the fuller of the two. 

 With the exception of Sanguinea, the following have been 

 described as " full roses :" — 



Minimum No. of Petals. Maximum. 



20 

 30 

 30 

 33 

 62 

 40 

 46 

 90 

 75 

 78 



