404 



On the Ayrshire Rose. 



part of that country, it may, I think, be safely alleged, that 

 the seeds could not have been those of an indigenous Rose 

 of America. 



Mr. Lindley* is perfectly correct, in his notice of the 

 Ayrshire Rose, in observing that two sorts have been culti- 

 vated and sold in the nurseries under that name ; the fact is, 

 that one of these is the common R. arvensis, and agreeing, 

 as I have before stated, so exactly with the figure in the 

 Botanical Magazine, it is not surprising that the mistake has 

 hitherto remained uncorrected ; but to his opinion, that the 

 Rosa capreolata of Mr. Don, which is the true Ayrshire 

 Rose, is so identified with R. sempervirens,f as not to differ 

 from it in any respect, or, in other words, is the same thing, 

 I cannot assent; Mr. Lindley was induced, I apprehend, 

 to give this opinion from finding the botanical character of 

 R. capreolata, as drawn up by Mr. Don, accord with R. 

 sempervirens, and from believing the Rose he saw at Kew 

 to be the true Ayrshire ; but I have ascertained that the 

 Ayrshire Rose was not in the Royal Gardens at the time 

 when Mr. Lindley there enquired for it, the one supposed 

 to be it, being actually Rosa sempervirens. 



Having now, as I hope, cleared away the difficulties 

 which have hitherto prevented this charming shrub from 

 being accurately known, which is certainly of considerable 

 importance to those who may wish to possess it, and no 

 garden ought to be without it ; a more difficult task remains 

 to be performed, that of ascertaining what it really is. That 

 it cannot be identified with the type of any described spe- 

 cies is clear ; it is equally certain that it has not yet been 



♦ Rosarum Monographia, page 114. f Ibid> ^ 118 . 



