ICOSANDRIA— POLYGYNIA. Rosa. 377 



little depressed, of a deep purplish black when quite ripe. I 

 have never tasted it. VV^ithering records that the juice, " di- 

 luted with water, dyes silk and muslin of a peach colour, and 

 with the addition of alum, a deep violet j bat it has very little 

 effect on woollen or linen." 

 Such is our native plant, whose garden or foreign varieties are not 

 the object of this work. They are ably explained by Mr. Sabine. 

 The herbarium of Linnaeus contains no original or authentic spe- 

 cimen, marked or numbered by himself. What bears this name 

 is a paper of several specimens, sent by a French correspondent, 

 and marked by Linnaeus pimplnellifolia , but to which I have put 

 the name spi)iosis!>ima; and to this Mr. Woods adverts, as the 

 true English plant; Liwt. Trans. 183. It is not however in itself 

 of any authority, though unquestionably the same species with 

 another specimen, of more importance, as being the only cer- 

 tain authority for R. ■pimjnneUifoUa, and this last is sufficiently 

 perfect to decide any question, notwithstanding the stem being 

 stripped of its prickles, an accident often happening to the spi«o- 

 sissima, in exposed situations, as Mr. Woods truly remarks. 

 Whatever might be the original sphiosissima of Linnaeus, though 

 its synonyms preclude all doubt, and the cinnamoniea seems to 

 me out of the question, as he has recorded that the ripe fruit of 

 his spinosissima is black ; he certainly did not recognise it in 

 this specimen, nor even advert to it, as at all related thereunto. 

 He described this identical specimen, by the name of pimpinelii- 

 folia, which he has written upon it, subjoining the letter A, 

 by which the species is distinguished in Syst. Nat. ed. 10. v. 2. 

 1062 ; according to his practice in that edition, to avoid disturb- 

 ing the numbers of the older species. This luckily establishes 

 the authority of the specimen beyond all question. The plant 

 was subsequently received into the 2d edition of Sp. Plant., but 

 Linnaeus knew not from whence it came, and still less was he 

 aware of its being precisely his R. spinosLisima of the 1st edition 

 of that work. This name being the original one, and peculiarly 

 appropriate, I cannot comply with Mr. Sabine's suggestion of 

 changing it, however unwilling to differ, in any point, from so 

 able and candid a friend. I must also beg leave to observe 

 that neither Willdenow, Miller, nor Jacquin, however meri- 

 torious, are of any authority in this case ; except that, if their 

 R. pimplnellifolia were specifically distinct, this name might re- 

 main with it, as being very descriptive. See Tr. of llort. Soc. 

 V. 4. 282. 



4. R. involuta. Prickly Unexpanded Rose. 



Flower-stalks generally without bracteas, bristly, like the 

 globular fruit and simple calyx. Stem bristly and very 

 prickly. Leaflets elliptical, doubly and sharply serrated ; 

 their veins hairy beneath. Petals convolute. 



