11 HISTORY AND CLASSIFICATION 9 



we have. Every one will be aware of Bible refer- 

 ences, though it should be mentioned that the Eose 

 of Jericho is generally understood to be a cruciferous 

 plant, and all seem agreed that whatever the Eose 

 of Sharon was, it was certainly not a Eose ; never- 

 theless Dr. Hooker enumerates seven species of 

 Eoses which he observed in Syria. A passage in 

 the Apocrypha (Wisdom ii., 8) is interesting as 

 mentioning the custom of crowning with Eosebuds 

 at feasts and banquets, which we know to have 

 prevailed in classic times. 



By far the most important ancient quotation is 

 from Sappho, the Greek poetess, who was born 

 about 600 B.C. A translation of a fragment of one 

 of her poems is given in the late Mr. William Paul's 

 book : — 



" Would Jove appoint some flower to reign 

 In matchless beauty on the plain, 

 The Rose (mankind will all agree), 

 The Rose the Queen of Flowers should be." 



That the title of " The Queen of Flowers " is no 

 modern assumption for the Eose, but has hardly 

 been seriously questioned for nearly twenty-five 

 centuries, is a little item of knowledge which every 

 Eosarian should store by him as a weapon of defence 

 in time of need. 



The immense sums spent by Cleopatra, Nero, and 

 other luxurious persons in the time of the Eomans, 

 not only on Eoses but on " Eose leaves " (petals) for 

 strewing on the floor and the seats, is well known. 

 And there are actually some points of culture that 

 we may learn from the Eomans. Horace speaks of 

 growing Eoses in beds, and Pliny of digging deeply 



