INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 



Derivation of the word Rose on Species on the Origin of the Floricultural 

 Groiips Terms used in the Description of Varieties Popular Names 

 applied to the different Forms of the Rose. 



THE word "Rose" is generally allowed to have been derived from the Celtic 

 rhodd, or rhtidd, signifying " red," in allusion to the colour of the flowers of most 

 of the species. We may trace a great resemblance in the names by which various 

 nations distinguish this plant. In the Greek it is called Rhodon ; in Latin, Rosa ; in 

 French, Rosier ; in Italian, Rosajo; in Spanish, Rosal; in Portuguese, Roseiia\ and in 

 German, Rosenstock. 



In the natural system of botany the Rose belongs to the order Rosaceae, in the 

 Linnaean system to the class and order Icosandria Polygynia. 



According to the authority of most Botanists, the genus ROSA stands divided into 

 sections, which are subdivided into numerous species, the distinguishing characters of 

 which consist in the colour, shape, size, &c., of various organs, such as the leaves, 

 prickles, flowers, and fruit. On the value of these characters as constituting distinct 

 species, botanical writers are, however, by no means agreed. While in the " Rosarum 

 Monographia " seventy-eight species are described (besides others recorded as doubtful 

 species), and the Messrs Loddiges had in their Catalogue a far greater number, 

 M. Boitard, a modern French author, stoutly maintains there are but three.* 



It is not my intention here to enter into the botany of the Rose,f but I would 

 state it to be my impression that the differences of opinion arise in some measure from 

 the unsettled definition of the word " species." I have often been asked what con- 

 stitutes a species. And this question seems so necessary to be answered, in order 

 that the arrangement of the varieties may be rightly understood, that I shall here 

 offer a reply. 



Mirbel says, " A species is composed of a succession of individuals, which have 



* '.'Manuel Complet de 1'Amateur des Roses," par M. Boitard, Paris, 1836. His species are : I, R. simpli- 

 cifolia ; 2, R. lutea ; 3, R. mutabilis. He divides these into races and varieties, and, according to this arrange- 

 ment, nearly all the varieties cultivated in European gardens belong to the third species (R. Mutabilis). 



t A popular article on this subject will be found in the " Appendix." 



