CHAPTER V 



SOME OF THE ROSE SPECIES AS GARDEN ROSES 



It is obvious that our garden Roses must have come 

 originally from some wild kinds, and it adds immensely 

 to the interest of our gardens to know something 

 about these original types and the influence they have 

 had in the making of our garden Roses ; moreover 

 some of the actual types are desirable in themselves. 

 Like other classes of plants that are prime favourites, 

 such as Daffodils and Irises, some prominent types 

 have become the ancestors of a host of hybrids and 

 garden varieties, and a close acquaintance with the 

 character of the type plant will often give a very fair 

 idea of the parentage of any garden Rose whose 

 pedigree is unrecorded. 



Though Roses have been for many hundred years 

 the most highly prized of garden flowers, yet their 

 antiquity, as far as our modern gardens are concerned, 

 cannot be compared, for instance, to that of wheat, 

 whose origin, in direct association with any one wild 

 grass, has never yet been satisfactorily determined. 

 We can trace the descent of all our Roses, within a 

 move or two, from their wild ancestry, and, by the 

 aid of the eye alone, observe relationships. Botanical 

 characters, such as the strongly serrated stipule in 

 multiflora, are a sure guide, but as this book is for 



