Appendix Botany of the Rose. 



347 



First comes a monotypic group, the SIMPLICIFOLI^E. Rosa simplicifolia of Salisbury (R. 

 berberifolia, Pallas), a native of Siberia and Persia, a scrambling shrub with small yellow 

 flowers, differs from all the other Roses by its simple leaves, which are destitute of stipules. It 

 has often been regarded as a distinct genus and called Lowea berberifolia and Hultheimia 

 berberifolia. Paxton's Rosa Hardii, a hybrid between simplicifolia and involucrata, with 

 the pinnate leaf of the true Roses, is more common and more easily cultivated than the true 

 simplicifolia. 



The most distinct group of the true Roses is the SYSTYLME. These differ from the other 

 Roses by having the styles united in a column, and the stigmas forming a round head protruded 

 beyond the disk. The oldest and best-known species of this group is R. repens (Scop), R. 

 arvensis (Huds.), the wild white Rose so common in the neighbourhood of London, easily 

 recognisable by its trailing habit, small simply serrated leaves, and small red globose hips. Of 

 this the Ayrshire Rose, R. capreolata (Neill), is a variety. R. sempervirens (L), common in the 

 south of Europe, is an allied species, with evergreen leaves. The flowers are numerous, white, 



Fig. 64. ROSA SYSTYLA. 



and fragrant, and the fruits small, globose, and orange-yellow. R. prostrata (D.C.), and R. 

 scandens (Miller), are varieties of sempervirens and the Himalayan R. longicuspis (Bertol), and 

 Neilgherry R. Leschenaultiana (Thory), are nearly allied. R. moschata (Miller), the Musk Rose 

 of which the Himalayan R. Brunonii (Lindl.) is a mere variety, is a tall scrambling species, 

 with many-flowered cymes and pure white flowers with a musky smell. It is spread as a wild 

 plant from Madeira and Portugal all through the south of Europe to the Himalayas. The Rose 

 of the mountains of Abyssinia, R. abyssinica (R. Br.), is scarcely more than a variety of 

 moschata. The well-known Noisette Rose is doubtless a hybrid between moschata and indica. 

 R. nivea (Dupont) is a fine hybrid between moschata and gallica. To this group of the Systylce 

 also belongs the Chinese and Japanese R. multiflora (Thunb.), which has numerous very small 

 flowers and small globose fruits. The form originally figured in the Botanical Magazine has 

 double red flowers, and is a very pretty Rose for button-holes. The variety R. polyantha 

 (S. and Z.), with numerous single small white flowers, has lately been much grown and admired. 

 The name polyantha is often applied to hybrids between multiflora and indica. R. Wichur- 

 aiana (Crepin), from Japan, differs from multiflora by its prostrate habit and late flowering. 



