i 4 8 
FLOWERS OF GARDEN AND GREENHOUSE 
our own early poets are to the big double Roses; they are rather in praise 
of our native Roses improved slightly by cultivation. R. centifolia 
contributes largely to the supply of Attar of Roses, and has furnished 
our gardens with an enormous number of varieties and hybrids, during 
the three hundred years in which we have grown it. From R. centifolia 
have been evolved the Miniature Pompone Roses, the Moss-Roses and 
the Painter’s Rose; and it was held in the highest esteem in our gardens 
until the introduction of the perpetual-flowering species, since when it 
has been relegated to a less important position. Equally neglected are 
now the Damask Roses ( R . damascena) and the Provence Roses 
(R. gallica, var. provincialis), which have been cultivated by us for 
three hundred years. The former species, which appears to be a native 
of Eastern Europe and the Orient, is traditionally said to have been 
brought to Western Europe by a returning Crusader, the Comte de Brie. 
The Musk Rose (R. moschata), so important in the production of perfumes, 
is a native of the regions from the shores of the Mediterranean to India; 
it is supposed to have been brought from North Africa in 1590. R. lutea, 
the Eglantine, or Austrian Briar, is another species introduced from the 
Orient about 1596, but few garden varieties have arisen from it. One 
of the oldest forms in our gardens is R. alba, the old White Rose. It is 
not an introduced species but a form of garden origin, believed to have 
been produced by crossing our R. canina with R. gallica. It has been 
cultivated since 1597, and has produced several varieties. Up to this 
period the species introduced were Bush Roses, but in 1629 the first 
climbing rose, R. sempervirens, with clusters of fragrant white flowers, 
was introduced from South Europe. 
Towards the end of the eighteenth century R. indica made its ap¬ 
pearance in England. The precise year of its introduction is not known, 
nor the country of its origin, but it appears to have been cultivated in 
China—which is most probably its real home—from very ancient times, 
and to have produced varieties there. It was observed in the year 1793 
in the garden of an amateur named Parsons, but at various dates since 
then it has been reintroduced from China by various individuals as a 
new species. A variety of this species (R. indica, var. diversifolia) 
appears to have been introduced in 1771 under the name of R. bengalensis, 
and became known as the Bengal or Perpetual Rose. It is said also to 
have been brought from Canton in 1780; from this variety our Monthly 
Roses have originated. 
One would have expected that our own native species, such as 
R. canina and R. arven&is, would be represented by double flowers in 
our gardens, rich as they are in stamens, but, except as the partial 
