SPECIES AS GARDEN ROSES 29 



the amateur, and deals with the subject from the 

 point of view of garden observation and garden enjoy- 

 ment, it is well to acquire the more rule-of-thumb, if 

 unscientific, method of noting the visible links. Thus 

 we learn when we see a hybrid Rose whose leaves 

 are bluish and of a dull surface, wide in the leaflet 

 and strongly saw-edged, to at once suspect the influ- 

 ence of alba. One soon gets to know the characteristic 

 leaf of a China, and the habit and leaf character of a 

 centifolia (Cabbage) or a gallica. The leaf of rugosa, 

 again, cannot be mistaken, and is strongly shown in 

 its descendants, even though the other parent was 

 some Rose of a very different nature. 



There are, of course, a great many species of Roses, 

 and numbers of them are only plants for botanical 

 collections. Only those that concern the garden in the 

 type form, and those that are the parents of garden 

 varieties, are here named and briefly described. 



Rosa acicularis. — A Rose with bright pink bloom and glaucous 



foliage ; a native of Siberia ; it is pretty and interesting, 



flowering at the end of May. 

 R. alba. — Not considered a real species though the name is 



usually admitted in botanical classification. Semi-double 



white, with handsome bluish leaves. The double White 



Rose of cottage gardens, Maiden's Blush and Celeste are 



among its garden varieties. 

 R. alpina. — A native of Europe and parent of the Boursault 



Roses. The mature stems are red and without prickles. 



The bright red hips are very long in shape. 

 R. altaica. — The representative of our native Burnet Rose 



(R. spinosissima) in Northern Central Asia. A beautiful 



garden bush with lemon-white flowers. 



